Posted on 05/09/2017 9:10:13 AM PDT by marktwain
Deer aren’t the slim, graceful vegans we thought they were. Scientists using field cameras have caught deer preying on nestling song birds. And it’s not just deer. Herbivores the world over may be supplementing their diets.
When researchers in North Dakota set up “nest cams” over the nests of song birds, they expected to see a lot of nestlings and eggs get taken by ground squirrels, foxes, and badgers. Squirrels hit thirteen nests, but other meat-eaters made a poor showing. Foxes and weasels only took one nest each. Know what fearsome animal out-did either of those two sleek, resourceful predators?
White-tailed deer.
These supposed herbivores placidly ate living nestlings right out of the nest. And if you’re thinking that it must be a mistake, that the deer were chewing their way through some vegetation and happened to get a mouthful of bird, think again. Up in Canada, a group of ornithologists were studying adult birds. In order to examine them closely, the researchers used “mist-nets.” These nets, usually draped between trees, are designed to trap birds or bats gently so they can be collected, studied, and released. When a herd of deer came by, they deer walked up to the struggling birds and ate them alive, right out of the nets.
(Excerpt) Read more at io9.gizmodo.com ...
All the more reason to shoot deer........It’s better to shoot them than hit them with your car.
I give blue herons a wide berth.
I’ll eat anything that doesn’t eat me first.
Always told my son, “never run from a wild animal, only food runs”.
I absolutely love these birds as they grace the area.
With a pterodactyl-like call during huge sweeping flight paths, patience in hunting, sadistic way it plays with its prey, its comfort in sunbathing with its wings out to the sides(making it look like arms out) facing the sun...
Also, to see two blue Herons fight is amazing. Imagine 2 practitioners of Praying Mantis kungfu and you can begin to see how they hop around each other, one parrying the other dodging and countering, single wing flaps producing elevated attacks all in proximity of each other. Very much like an orchestrated ballet.
I can see why, even during mute swan mating season and nesting period, they leave these blue kings well enough alone.
Well said!
The explanation is simple...baby birds taste like chicken. It’s the deer equivalent of chicken tenders.
We had a dog that ate up a rabbit nest once. He scarfed them so fast without chewing before I could do anything.
“Field Cameras Catch Deer Eating Birds—Wait, Why Do Deer Eat Birds?”
To get to the other side of the road?
nature ping for comments
“I didn’t even know they have white tailed deer in ND. I can’t remember seeing one west of the mississipee ever.”
Whitetail deer live all over the place.
They seem to prefer forest, but do inhabit more treeless regions like the High Plains. Not always the preponderant species.
We live in western South Dakota: whitetails are so numerous they constitute a road hazard.
In Nebraska the early 1990s, over 50,000 deer/vehicle collisions were reported to authorities each year.
[[Why Do Deer Eat Birds?][]
Because elephants are too big?
Montana here.
I'm also watching the second season of a British sci-fi, psychological thriller titled "Fortitude" which I downloaded from a UK torrent site. Stanley Tucci was in the first season. Dennis Quaid stars in the second. It's filmed mostly in Iceland, and is a very intense series. The town Fortitude has less than 800 inhabitants, but the first season deals with some very bizarre murders. The second season hasn't disappointed me yet...decapitations, reindeer feeding on the carcass of a polar bear, bears and deers bleeding from the eyes. Pretty spooky.
There was a thread last week (maybe a Gizmodo article?) about deer eating human remains from a cadaver study area. Deer leave distinct bite marks on the remains. Story featured a photo of Bambi with a rib bone in her mouth standing over the skeleton. I’ve eaten plenty of deer (usually as sticks or jerky) but now am aware that what comes around goes around...
Reminds me of the movie "The Birds." That movie spooked me as a kid when I saw it in the theater.
Had eight or ten mulies in my yard early this morning.
Also have four feral cats (momma and three offspring) that I’ve been looking out for back there.
I don’t know who was provoking whom but it got so rambunctious, deer charging, cats running up and down trees, that I finally went out there and chased the deer off.
My feral buddies regarded me admiringly.
That dog knows good eating. Dog meat candy. Some take to it some don’t.
When I used to bird hunt we’d yank the heads off right after shooting them and toss them over to the dogs. They loved them.
[[I’ve eaten plenty of deer (usually as sticks or jerky)]]
The deer are taking note Philled lol
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