These are an interesting fruit. We have them around where i grew up. We never saw the deer eating them but I guess anything is possible with deer and things to eat. I once read where a hungry buck in the spring would kick the first run suckers out of the brook and eat them. We used them as ammo during our army games as kid and you always knew if someone got hit with one due to the specially patterned imprint it left on their face for a while. One of the most interesting things about this fruit is that it comes from the Bow wood tree. The limbs have a distinct bow in them and the native Americans used these limbs to make their bows. It is a very strong and pliable wood.