BS: Big Dog, Small Deer

Subject: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Melissa
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 05:59 AM

This is just a video of a dog and a deer playing.
I like it and thought I'd share.

One Ball-video

There's surely an existing thread for random links, but I don't know what it's called.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 06:50 AM

Guess the deer was more interested in giving the dog some hoof rather than the ball.......

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Melissa
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 07:26 AM

that babydeer has crazy legs!
I didn't know they do that..

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 08:35 AM

yes, their hooves are defensive. Moose are similar...i think some sled dogs have been trampled to death by moose

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 11:36 AM

A fellow who lived up the road some years back made a habit of "rescuing" animals (illegally) for quite a few years. I'd known him to have 'coons, 'possums, skunks, and a few birds of various kinds, and a couple of deer. I heard once that he claimed to have a porcupine, but they're rare enough here that I'd question that one.

One day one of the deer, not much bigger than the one in the clip, stood up on its hind legs and stabbed him in the chest with a front hoof - just like that little deer was trying to do with the dog.

I didn't know the guy well enough to go to his funeral.

It's hard to know whether the deer in the clip is a "family pet" and might not have been particularly serious about it; but I doubt it was really "playing" and it hit the dog hard enough a couple of times to pick up the hits in the audio.

While it may be just "cute" to those unfamiliar with deer, it is - or soon will be - a dangerous wild animal, and pets (and more so children) should NEVER be encouraged to trust one or to try to play with one.

Put the dog on a leash and open a gate for the "cute little deer."

John

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Les from Hull
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 12:21 PM

The deer is just trying to defend itself. The dog is more domesticated and is wavering between its learned behaviour and its natural instincts. I agree with you, John. Stupid humans!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Alice
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 04:17 PM

Yes, wild animals should never be pets.

Leave them in their natural habitat, bear, deer, snakes, ferrets and lizards.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 04:24 PM

I would also agree that there is a language barrier operating here. The dog doesn't understand the young deer and the deer doesn't understand the dog. The cats on the railing appear to be cheering them both on to mutual destruction.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 04:36 PM

I'm glad others have posted the exact same thoughts I had on viewing this. I always seem to be the one who has a 'downer' on the cute animal videos or photos!

Not because I don't love animals or find them cute and funny, but because I do and it really frustrates me to see ignorant cruelty (as opposed to the willful kind which just makes me want to smack people!)

Both animals were confused, and neither were being aggressive. But the poor old doggy got proper whapped by that young deer. And it wouldn't have taken much for it to all have gone very nasty.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: gnu
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 04:59 PM

"Cute" enough to the videographer but I was horrified. That deer could have easily blinded or killed that dog. Stupid? No. Lacking knowledge? Yes.

Matter of fact, I watched less than half of it and shut it off.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Melissa
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 05:44 PM

Young animals play.
I think if the deer had felt threatened, it probably would have squeezed into the bushes or quit running around WITH the dog.
I also think the loud thunk is the ball getting hit, not the dog.

Sorry to have offended you all.
That certainly wasn't my intention.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: gnu
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 06:06 PM

No need to apologize! You did not offend me.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 08:31 PM

Melissa-

No, don't feel badly posting this; it's an educational video. Probably much more of one than the person realized when she was shooting it.

She did make good faith attempts to try to keep her dog under control.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Leadfingers
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 10:03 PM

Back in the Dark Ages when the OLD Lord bath was setting up the Safari Park at Longleat , there was a Television programme with Lord Bath and several of the Chipperfield family (Who were advisers re the Animal Side ) and rather than just show 'Talking Heads' the camera was pointed out through the French Window to an enclosed lawn
where a Great Dane and a Black Panther were playing chase , taking turns to chase each other !
I Would LOVE to find a copy of that bit of film - It was a JOY to watch !

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Jul 10 - 10:07 PM

Both were having a great time! You could tell!

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: open mike
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 02:34 AM

i have seen "play" like this between dogs and goats end up in a deadly battle. there was one part of that scene where the dog was on top of the deer and trying to bite it...this can cause a predator to "snap" and go into kill mode...it only takes a second....i found myself wishing the dog would go in the house, and the deer would get outside of the gate...
hope they are both still o.k.

we had a "pet" deer in our neighborhood that gored someone with his antlers...he wandered around for a while with a flea collar on. That
kept people from shooting him when they saw that. he was sent to a
zoo or wild animal park...we called him Bambi...

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Melissa
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 03:44 AM

I guess if it turned deadly off-camera, the family either has a deer to eat or a dog to bury. If that happened, they learned a lesson about nature around the same time I learned that I'm evidently not capable of telling the difference between video fluff and controversial footage.
Maybe I won't let the playful nature and lack of blood fool me next time.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Jul 10 - 07:19 PM

When I lived up in the hills in Oregon a man who had killed the mother brought me a grey fox kit once and I had it for more than a year (don't ask).

He and my border collie pup played for hours at a time. But once, Rome made a skittering noise in his throat and Penny, the pup, recognized him as an alien being. For a moment, she was determined to kill him.

I separated them and the next time they met they went back to playing. I don't know how it would have ended eventually, because I sold Penny to a sheep farmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Big Dog, Small Deer
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 Jul 10 - 05:04 AM

I think if the deer had felt threatened, it probably would have squeezed into the bushes or quit running around WITH the dog.

While running away is a natural and frequent escape tactic for deer, it has also been confirmed that a deer will NOT run unless it assesses the situation and expects to be able to outrun the threat.

A loud shout often will "freeze" a deer that hasn't previously detected the presence of a predator, since the deer must know what the threat is in order to make the decision whether to run, and is a technique used by some hunters (in some places) to get a motionless target for the "perfect shot."

The deer in the video was keeping the dog (that was demostrating superior agility and speed) "at distance" because running would certainly provoke a chase and the very young deer could not be confident of an escape by fleeing.

In play, in the rare instances of young deer raised in constant and long term contact with another animal, the "deer play" consists almost entirely of what one reporter called "body bumps." This deer was striking out with front hooves - i.e. was attacking with (its most deadly) weapons - to keep the dog at a distance until an opportunity to escape occured.

But in actuality, the video is no more offensive (and perhaps less so to me) than much of the stuff aired on, e.g., our US program called "America's Funniest Home Videos" that pays cash prizes for videos of people doing stupid things that often cause them great pain and sometimes significant injury. Quite a few people seem to enjoy that sort of "humo(u)r, so maybe I'm just "sensitive."

John