Thread by @S_Bassing

It’s #WorldWildlifeDay! To celebrate, here’s the most unusual #wildlife interaction I’ve captured w/ a #CameraTrap: a golden eagle attacking a great-horned owl, which were then attacked by a mule deer, followed by a coyote rushing to join in! 🧵
#WAPredatorPreyProject

Let’s break this down a bit. Our scene opens with a golden #eagle standing over (what we soon discover is) a great-horned #owl. Is this an attempted predation event? A scuffle over territory or food? Not sure. #BirdTwitter help me out. What do you think is happening here?

Then this rando mule deer shows up. A chance encounter between two (or three) species can happen when they use similar habitats, so this in itself isn’t that weird. But what happens next blows my mind. Also, check out the look on that eagle’s face! It’s not happy.

Instead of ignoring the birds-of-prey & letting them work things out on their own, the #deer jumps into the fray. It stomps & kicks the #eagle away from the #owl! But why? Was it protecting something? Did it perceive them as a threat and chose fight over flight? No idea.

Hold on, let’s just take a moment to really appreciate this epic photo of a mule #deer karate kicking a golden #eagle while a helpless great-horned #owl falls over in the snow. Yes, I’m anthropomorphizing here. Just go with it.

OK, so is this deer some kind of vigilante hero, coming to the aid of woodland creatures in need? Not quite. Much to the owl’s dismay, it now finds itself facing down the irate deer and its sidekick.

Apparently roughing up the eagle wasn’t enough b/c the mule #deer proceeds to stomp on the great-horned #owl too. Hooves & talons fly as the owl fights to protect itself while the deer appears to vent some seriously pent up anger.

The owl eventually manages to nail the deer in the face with a talon (ouch!), sending the mule deer & its companion bounding away. Finally, the end of a very bad day for this owl.

BUT WAIT! 30 seconds later a #coyote arrives on the scene, presumably due to all the commotion & hoping to get in on the action. However, the coyote wandered back within a minute sans owl. So as far as I can tell, the owl actually did managed to get away.

I don’t know enough about #deer #behavior to understand why this deer appeared to behave so aggressively towards these #birds. If it was fawning or breeding season I’d understand it more, but this occurred mid-winter. What could explain this? #AnimalBehavior

#Deer folks, any ideas? @Rhiannon_Kirton @rhiacoon @SophieLGilbert @beckoftheyukon @WildliferSteph @alcesanna @lfinnegal @linglelab @KristyFerraro @kristinjbarker @Eilidh_MWS @atyourcervid @mammaldreams @LauraPrugh