Strangest thing you have seen an animal do

BuckSnort

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What are the strangest things you folks have seen an animal do?

One of the weirdest things I have witnessed happened during the late deer hunt in the AZ desert.My buddy had glassed up a nice buck and we were waiting for it to bed so we could develop a stalking plan.As I was watching this nice muley through my spotting scope I noticed that he was eating that long prickely yellow cactus (I believe it's called cholla..corect me if I'm wrong).I told my buddy what he was doing and of course he did not believe me so I handed him the scope to prove I wasn't crazy.That buck had that cactus about 5-6" down his throught.I guess he was scratching hi toungue?
 
Three things come to mind. Once we were glasing a bachelor group of bucks. We were didden in their day beds in some stunted pines, and the 6 bucks were working their way back up the hill. One of the bucks would climb for a while, then rest and pant through his mouth just like you or I. This buck was a thin antlered 4 point around 26" inside. I didn't think they would get winded so easily. Then he began to feed. He was eating the dried chrunchy leaves of a Balsam Root plant. It was strange to see them eat the dried leaves as opposed to other available browse. We had to back out of their beds as their wasn't a shooter in the bunch.

Another time my wife and I watched as a four point bull elk in the velvet was sparing with his shadow on the dirt. it was mid-summer and there were about 60 head of elk grazing around.

The last one was in a high alpine basin at a spot were named "the merry-go-round". We named it that as while a group of 8 bucks feed out, three of the forked horns began to chase each other around a clump of pines. The lead buck would stop, turn tail, and then chase the other bucks. This went one for over five minutes.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-12-02 AT 05:24PM (MST)[p]SBT, It sure is cool to to be glassing animals from some distance,and they don't know they are being watched.

There is a place I call fighting buck ridge, it's on winter range and every time I glass it I see the same two 3-points fighting with each other from mid november through feburary.I have also seen a small forky sneek up on a bedded 4-point and poke him in the butt with his antlers then take off running,I have seen him do it twice.
 
A couple of years ago I was bowhunting during the rut in the West Elk Wilderness. I had been working a herd bull and his harem for about two hours. I was fairly certain that some of them knew I was there but it was still the best game in town. The old five point (he had real heavy but blunt antlers, weird) had been getting pretty irritated by me and a bunch of small satellite bulls for quite a while. Finally he got pissed and charged a spike and head butted him right in the ass with his brow tines. It lifted him off the ground about 3 feet and the spike squealed like crazy while running off. I'll bet that hurt.

BeanMan
 
I was still hunting through some thick pines and approaching a game trails when I heard a commotion to my left. I saw a doe running full speed along the game trail being chased by a coyote. The whole shebang was in my sight picture for about two seconds or so. (i could only see along about 30-40 yards of the trail) About as fast as it went, it came back again this time the doe was chasing the coyote. I can only imagine the coyote must have been thinking "this is definitely NOT right"
 
mmbeeeeer,

I had some thing like that happen to me once.My dad and I were driving in the woods and stopped to make a sandwich,after a while we noticed Muttly (our dog) chasing something..it was a small fawn.We yelled at Muttly to stop,but he kept chasing.The fawn ran right for it's mother,then the doe started chasing Muttly.He ran to me and the doe followed.She finaly stopped about 10 feet from me and kind of snorted for about 5 seconds then ran off.I think Muttly learned his lesson.
 
I too have seen a doe chasing a coyote. We were out hunting and saw this coyote sneaking around watching this doe. The doe finally saw him and kinda trotted over the crest of a hill. The coyote followed. Not two minutes later this coyote comes flying over the hill with the doe hot on his trail! I kid you not, we watched this doe chase this coyote for a good 20 minutes! Back and forth they went. We thought there must of been a fawn around, but we couldn't see it. We finally left with the doe still chasing the coyote around.
 
This isn't really strange but I saw it last weekend and thought I'd share it. I was hunting elk sheds in an area where one North facing draw still has a couple feet of snow. This particular snow bank was on the side of a very steep hill, 80 yards wide at the top and narrowed down to nothing a few hundred yards down the hill.
Anyway, there were 12 deer bedded down in the snow. There was green grass and brush all around, but I guess they were hot and wanted to cool down a bit. The temp was around 70 degrees.
 
A couple of things. I've seen a badger carrying young in mouth like a cat would. Once saw a hen pheasant catch a mouse, it never occurred to me a pheasant would eat a mouse but protein is the name of the survival game. In the same way, I once was cleaning out the box on a grain drill. Threw out a mouse nest with several bare baby mice. It's laying on the ground a couple of feet away when up runs a 12-lined ground squirrel (often referred to as a gopher) grabs a mouse and is gone. It's back in about a couple of minutes and does it again and again until all of the mice are gone. I didn't actually see him eat the mice but I don't think he was adopting them.
 
bucksnort, it would have been a good picture if they weren't over 1000 yards away. I could barely make them out with my naked eye. How's the digital camera hunt going, I've found out one thing, their are a million different types to choose from. I think the Canon Powershot G2 is the hottest seller right now but I don't want to spend $670. I'm leaning toward the Canon Powershot A40 for $250 but still have a lot of researching to do.
 
Our family was driving through the country one day and we pulled over to look at these deer we saw running in circles. Once we had gotten the binoculars out and could see better, they were actually chasing a bunch of turkeys around. They were both coming out to eat during the evening and I guess the deer thought they had the only right to be there. It was commical to see the deer chase them. later B_B
 
sage mule, I have found the camera I want,I'm just looking for the cheapest (and most reliable) place to buy.The camera I'm looking at is an Olympus 2100 UZ,it has 10X optical zoom with 2.7 digital zoom.I have talked to diferent people and they say it is a great camera for the price ($480.00).Let me know if you would like more info about the camera and I can e-mail you some links.
 
Last night my Brother in law was kicking the football for the dog into the field where we keep our cows. All of a sudden the cows start chasing the dog(border collie/red heeler).That was pretty funny but then the cows started playing football. He would kick it out there, the cows would run up to it buttheads then put their noses down to the ball nose it back and forth a little then start jumping around headbutting eachother, pawing at the football. The dog would try to get the ball from them and of course they would chase him off. It was the funniest thing I've seen in awhile.
 
While elk hunting in Jackson we watched a coyote sneak up on a flock of geese in a pasture. He was creeping along, intent on his prey, a fine goose feeding away from him. He got within about ten feet, began his run, and that goose turned around spread it's wings and stood its ground, honking like crazy. We thought the goose was just committing suicide. Just as the coyote got within snapping range, that goose tapped him a good one right on the end of his nose. The coyote went down like he'd been shot, then tucked his tail and began running away, with that crazy goose pecking hairs out of his butt all the way to the timber line.....I have never laughed so hard in my life!
 
predator,

I would have loved to see that,I would have been rolling on the ground.It would probably be a good contender for the "funniest home video".
 
I was watching a group of about 10 deer next to a herd of about 50 elk on the winter range. And there was 2 coyotes that were chasing a fawn mule deer that was very distressed from the bad winter conditions in the area. The fawn was about 100yards from the herd of elk and deer, it was really lagging behind. About the time the coyotes were going in for the kill a raghorn bull come running out of the herd about 100 yards away and chased the coyotes. The bull would run towards them and stop and they would run a short distance once the bull stopped. And when the bull would turn back to go to the main elk herd here they would come again. Then the raghorn just all out chased them over the ridge. It was about a 5 minute chase. By that time the fawn had returned back to the herd. i dont know if it made it the rest of the year. But i thought that was pretty cool. Why didnt the fawns mother try to protect it? And why the hell did the elk? I figured the elk was just trying to eliminate any danger near his herd and helped the fawn out doing so.

later, MM
 
I was in a tree stand bowhunting whitetail here in Kansas at the edge of a milo stubble field watching a 12 point (eastern count) work his way across the field. Two other hunters appeared some distance off and the big buck laid down flat in one of the rows when he spotted them. Then he did a belly craw head straight out in front back across the field to the edge of the timber. I was amazed how low he got, that stubble could not have been anymore than 16". The big ones get big for a reason. He covered the last 1/4 of the field after the hunters had made it to the field and were probably less than a 100 yards from him and they never knew it. I wish I had it on tape.
 
I have seen the same thing. I was javelina hunting a couple years ago with a friend and we were walking up a draw that split to make a Y. I took the left and my friend took the right. I got about halfway up the draw when I look up and see a buck crawling across the top towards me looking over his back at my friend. Never knew I was there. They are pretty sneaky.
 
One year I was hunting with 3 of my cousins for mule deer during late season in okanogan county, Wa. My cousin Gary and I split off from my cousin Merk and his wife to work two sepperate ridges. After hunting awhile, Gary and I started to make our way back towards the othe two. All of a sudden we heard Marks wife screaming bloody murder. We ran as fast as we could to get to her. When we got there we found her about 15 feet up a pine tree with a forked horn mulie buck surrounding the trunk of the tree like a coon dog. Gary whipped his rifle up and busted a cap in the buck. We had to drag it away from the tree before she would come down. Where was Mark? He was on the other side of the ridge taking a dump! And speaking of taking a dump, that same cousin Gary shot a 3 pt. mulie buck the folloing year while he was taking a dump only about 150 yards from camp smack dab in the middle of the day! That shot emptied camp. We all ran up to find him finishing up with a dead 3 pt. on the ground about 40 yards from him.
 
I entered the Provo river through some willows with Fly Rod in hand hoping to catch some dinner. I waded up to my knees when I felt a bump hit the side of my leg and nearly knocked me down. I figured it was just a log or something as I watched it float between my legs--till it slapped the water with its tail! No, not a German Brown lunker. Let's just say I know what it feels like to have a beaver split your legs!

Another time fishing, I looked down and saw this big and thick water snake scurrying away on the hot river rock. I chased the snake and it tried to get away by buying itself in the rocks, but was too thick to get through any cracks. It tried two or three times, then turned and faced me like it was going to strike. It hissed and opened its mouth, then dislodges it's jaw, and out comes this 8 inch trout, tail first! It was covered in milky snake stomach acid, and the snake regurgitated it whole. Must have been yesterday's dinner.

I once saw a cat that had seven toes on each foot. I've got a picture of it too. It didn't do anything strange, but it looked awful wierd, like two hands on each arm.

***Sperca
 
2 wildest things i've ever seen was a doe muley attacking a bobcat and 10 pronghorn bucks killing a coyote. the doe bit the bobcat, picked it up and shook it, 3 times. all 3 times when the bobocat got loose it climbed a tree. last time i saw em they were headed over a ridge with doe after the cat still. one time while scouting for pronghorn in Az., was glassing 10 bedded bucks. suddenly, for no aparant reason, they all got up and ran out into the prarie and stopped in a circle. put the spotting scope on em and they were around a real scared coyote. he took off, they chased him, caught up and ran over him. they did this several times until i could see he had at least one broken leg. kept it up until the dog couldn't run anymore and they just stomped him to death.
 
I have horses and once while feeding them , my german shorthair pointer jumped on the feed wagon and began eating their grain. My horse reached over the top rail and opened his mouth and grabbed the dog around the rib cage . I thought he was gonna crush the rib cage of my good hunting dog but instead he very gently lifted the dog over the rail and set him on the ground and continued eating. The dog never jumped up in the feed wagon again.
 
It was early June and I was heading off a trail (to relieve myself) in the middle of nowhere Nevada. I jumped some fawns and this doe came running. When it passed up the fawns and was about 20 feet away I started getting worried that it was interested in me. It came within five feet and stared straight at me. I yelled at it for about ten seconds before it walked slowly off. I think it's because the coyotes were thick as flies on cow pies.

FULL
 
Its amazing to see some of the wierdest things out in the woods especially with coyotes and other critters but I personally am always packing and the coyotes I see always get tipped over.

One thing that does come to mind is when I went over to Germany with my wife and visited some of here reletives we went to a nature park where the animals roam freely in a high fenced park.

I heard this thumping and thought it was a grouse drumming and went around this corner and to my amazement here were 2 Red Stags standing on their hind legs and pounding the piss out of each other like boxers with their front hooves. This was in May and their antlers were full velvet. Got some dandy pics and now I know why some of the old family crests show stags standing on each side on 2 feet.
 
Last year I was guiding an Antelope hunter. We had found a nic ebuck with 12 does. We had sat down because they were feeding towards us. All of a sudden a coyote comes trotting along. He spotted us, but I guess not the antelope. My hunter was just about to take a shot when the antelope kicked into high gear and chased the coyote. They made three full circles before the coyote went under a fence and ran away. I told my hunter that we should act like coyotes to see if they would try to chase us too. We crawled on hands and knees until the antelope spotted us. Sure enough, the lead doe charged straight at us. The buck followed and as soon as he was clear of his does, my hunter drilled him with a 270 win.
Strange but cool.
Josh
 
My buddy and I were scouting for deer and as we came over a rise we spotted a little 2X2 feeding unaware of us about 50 yards away. We watched the little buck for a while and the wind carried our scent, you could see the chill it gave him as he turned to look at us. He watched us for a while and as he turned to run away he lunged straight into a small pine tree. He centered the 4? tree right between his horns. It was all the little buck could do to keep his feet after giving the tree one heck of a shake. His head tilted back like a bighorn does after a clash. It took him a few minutes to get the cobwebs out and he decided to walk slowly away from two hysterically laughing scouters.
 

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