What do deer use the hairless indentation in front of their eyes for? Why is it there?
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It's called the LACHRYMAL or PREORBITAL GLAND (NO, not the tear duct like you've heard) and it produces and actually holds a musky wax that deer mark their territory with. During the rut, a buck will swell larger and if oftentimes found to contain broken sticks
I was on a deer tagging with the DOW and they were tagging does too. And when the deer were stressed and held down to tag, the glands opened really wide on both sexes. I had never seen a deer open these up before. So they do have some control over them.