Seriously. Bird-eating deer.
Apparently, deer will snack on nestlings and even on adult birds whenever they get the chance. What’s more, deer aren’t the only herbivores that occasionally supplement their diet with meat and poultry. Cows have been caught doing it too. The usual suspects such as weasel, fox, and other carnivores don’t seem to do half as much nest looting as the creatures we like to think of as either strictly prey or “steak-on-a-plate”.
It’s time to revisit that conversation between Bambi and Thumper:
Young Thumper: Those are birds.
Young Bambi: Bur… Bur!
Young Thumper: Look! He’s trying to talk with his mouth full.
Young Bambi: Bur!
Girl Bunny: He’s trying to say “bird”.
Young Thumper: Say “bird”.
[wiggles his nose]
Young Bambi: Bur.
[wiggles his nose]
Young Thumper: Bird.
Young Bambi: Bur!
Young Thumper: Spit out the feathers, Bambi, it’ll be easier to talk.
Other rabbits: Come on, say “bird”. Say “bird”!
Young Bambi: Bird! Delicious!
As one commenter wrote on this rather delightfully written article,
“the end is deer”.
Read: Field Cameras Catch Deer Eating Birds—Wait, Why Do Deer Eat Birds?
POLLENATRIX 