Love this story!
Whit Whit Deschner of Baker, Ore., had a brainstorm six years ago while visiting a friend. They looked at a salt lick that had been licked by deer. What the deer left behind looked like a swirling sculpture of grooves, pinnacles and even a small porthole.
“I was sitting on the porch of a friend’s cabin admiring the shape of a salt lick the deer had worked on and I began thinking that it sure beat some of the sculptures in parks and in front of buildings. You know the ones—the boulders with a chip knocked out of them masquerading as art that some artist has been paid a six-figure sum for,” said Deschner.
That was the genesis of the Great Salt Lick Contest, an annual auction and fundraiser that supports Parkinson’s disease research, a disease that Deschner suffers from. To date, the fundraiser has raised more than $30,000.
The 2012 auction attracted more than 50 entries and raised $12,750.
Most of the more inventive salt licks seem to have been created by deer and cows. I know that our horses haven’t created any memorable salt lick art — but what about yours?
My horses salt lick is not nearly as pretty as some of those… I wonder if horses just lick differently? I can see how a deer could make something more intricate as they have smaller noses/ mouths/ tongues. Thanks for sharing.
How interesting! I agree completely with Hillary – it must be their nose shape/tongue length, surely?
So interesting. Completely awesome as art. I wonder if an artist has ever tried sculpting salt blocks?