Photo: A deer's-eye view

Researchers at the University of Missouri have mounted wireless video cameras on white-tailed deer to get a better idea of how the animals see their world and what's behind their behavior.

The battery-run cameras with miniature transmitters were placed between the antlers of two bucks and round the neck of one doe. The images are sent electronically to VHS tape for recording.

So far, the cameras have racked up more than two weeks of video on the deers' daily activities, such as sparring matches between antlered males and breeding.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant for the work. The funding will be used partly on smaller video cameras with higher-resolution images that can be controlled remotely, to improve shooting angles and fields of vision. The UM research team also plans to put footage from the deercams on a Web site.