well alright then
I read about deer (Whitetails) being observed stomping, then consuming small birds/eggs when given the opportunity. I believe this was during the Texas Game and Fish study 20 or 30 years ago, but I could definitely be wrong about the source.Anyone ever hear of deer being carnivorous?
That’s freaking cool. Im not saying that’s not a wild deer, but that video/interaction seemed fairly intimate for a wild animal. Pin deer do act a bit different than their wild counterparts.
In 2019, I watched a mom cottontail eat all six of her recently drowned kits in my backyard. One of the sadder/grosser things I’ve witnessed. I thought it was strange behavior so I looked into it a little bit. While not normal behavior, it certainly wasn’t unheard of. Everyone’s best guess is they eat their babies to ward off predation by removing all evidence. That doe in the video looks a bit rotund, maybe a pregnancy had something to do with eating a snake.
It is not the least bit unusual for domestic rabbits to eat their young. Especially first time moms. Some folks think she gets to cleaning up the afterbirth and doesn't stop when she gets to the babies. Some folks think stress. Some folks blame vitamin/mineral deficiencies. I dunno but I've seen it enough in my life to know it's not that unusual.
I will say this -- my rabbits get a well rounded diet of pellets, wood and fodder. I make sure they are not "coddled" so they don't stress like rabbits that are kept in quieter environments. They deal with all the noise of a suburban neighborhood, which includes barking dogs, etc. And I will still occasionally lose a baby or a litter to the mom's overzealous cleaning. It's ALWAYS been a first time mom, too, so I'm going with the operator error explanation.
Hell I had a doe that we moved into the garage to treat for ear mites who would stretch out in her pen and watch Grumpy work on cars, making all kinds of racket, including firing up the air compressor and using air tools.
She wound up staying in the garage because she became a sort of neighborhood pet. Kids next door would come over every day after school to pet her and give her treats. She was the chillest rabbit I've ever had. NOTHING rattled that momma. She had a couple of litters out there and they were the fattest, chillest bunnies I've ever seen.
That girl lived like the Queen of Sheba. Lol
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