Back in 2012, people looking for love could take advantage of a new smartphone app called Tinder.
The concept was simple enough—create a profile, upload a picture, then users could swipe left or right when searching out other users. Swipe left to ignore, swipe right to be matched up and start a conversation.
Since it’s launch, Tinder is now registering one billion ‘swipes’ per day.
However, as discovered by the folks over at CranbrookCity.com the deer in Cranbrook have Timber—a dating app for urban deer.
After all, urban deer need love, too.
"For quite some time we'd been wondering what was happening to the lost and stolen cellphones in our area, they never seemed to turn up in lost & founds nor were they recovered under sofa cushions,” said Lee Tengum, one half of CranbrookCity.com. “One evening while walking home, seemingly alone, we heard the familiar sound of that annoying whistle ring tone and what we discovered was amazing. The deer have adapted to using the phones."
CranbrookCity.com—a media website built to showcase the good things about Cranbrook—was created to push back against a negative review by the travel guide, Lonely Planet. The website was built by Tengum and Nathan Siemens and is not affiliated in any official capacity with the City Of Cranbrook.
Timber functions just like the app you can download on your smartphone, however, instead of swiping, those lonesome ungulates can click their approval and get matched up with other Timber users.
And those lovelorn ungulates have their own stories to tell to their newfound dearly beloved.
From bragging about how many culls they’ve survived to sharing their personal interests such as hanging out at the Clover Patch—the local feeding hole—each one has their own tales to share.
"These deer are amazingly articulate for lacking thumbs,” said Tengum. “Their hobbies are fascinating and the interests they have are uncanny. I'd often thought the deer were watching my tv from my yard, now I know they are."
Currently, there are forty two ungulates signed up for the app, and given Cranbrook’s urban deer population—104 at last count in Dec. 2014—there could be many more to come.
To check out what the urban deer are up to on Timber, visit www.cranbrookcity.com