Odd Animal Behavior

Happy Friday everyone. Yesterday, on my morning walk with my dog, Bernard, I stumbled upon some odd animal behavior in the dark early morning hours. I’m sure many people have experienced instances of animals behaving oddly, acting in ways that we don’t usually expect them to behave, but there are certain times when the behavior just doesn’t make sense, or it seems weird in a way that defies explanation. I may have an explanation for what happened yesterday morning, but I don’t know that it holds water or would stand scrutiny from a cervid expert. In any case, not too long into my walk in the woods with Bernard, I turn right to take our usual path and he decides to be a dick (as he sometimes is in the fall in the spring when unique and different smells present themselves) and takes a left instead. I eventually get him to stop and sit, but it takes me yelling his name loudly once to get him to stop. I put the leash on and guide him on our normal route. As soon as I pass the point where our paths initially diverged, I see a deer run off to my left, we walk a little further and there is a second deer standing no more than 25-30 feet off to the right.

This is not the odd part. Normally, soon after a deer spots Bernard and I, they will do one of two things, either stand perfectly still as if we don’t exist and pretend to blend in, or they will run. Where I live, the deer are used to humans, not really hunted, and so have a more laid back disposition than deer do in an area where they are heavily hunted. In any case, this one deer does not just stand there. As I take out my phone to snap a picture, it goes to take a tentative step towards me, glancing at Bernard as if he is a baby deer (which he vaguely has the color and look of one) and back at me, almost as if questioning why a baby deer is on a leash, as if it is trying to remember where its baby went and why a human is now walking one in the woods. I take the picture then test the deer out. I shout ‘hey’ at the deer and it does nothing, just keeps glancing back and forth between Bernard and myself. I then pick up a small stick and toss it towards the deer, aiming for right in front of its hooves, and it actually knocks one gently and the deer simply picks up its hoof and puts it back down, taking one more step towards me. In every other scenario where I have tossed a stick at a deer, they have bolted. At this point, I am almost certain that it thinks Bernard is a small deer that needs saving and is ready to run right up to me and snatch the leash out of my hand.

That doesn’t happen, though, the deer just stands there, inquisitively looking at Bernard and myself as if we are some odd specimens walking through the woods. I have run into some odd animal behavior before, but this one was new to me, unexpected, and in some ways, kinda cool to experience. It just goes to show you that no matter what we expect animals to behave like, how they will react or act in the wild, sometimes, they do the unexpected and surprise us. And yet, that deer will most likely never be hunted, never have to worry about a hunter like myself sending an arrow or a bullet to take its life, and so it will become more adjusted to humans, more bold. In a world where we keep eating away at the habitats of wild animals, I expect we will see more and more behavior that defies explanation, or get to the point where it can be explained because it has happened so many times. In any case, I’ll keep my eyes out for more interesting behavior in the mornings. Cool to see, and memorable.