Thread: Strange Behavior in the Bush: Seeking Insight on a Peculiar Deer Encounter

Hey everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I've got a question about something I saw in the bush last week.

I was out bush stalking when I stumbled upon a deer doing some strange stuff. It was rolling around on its back, kicking its back legs against a tree, and its neck and head were twisted back in an odd way. At first, I thought maybe it was just trying to get up, but the neck thing threw me off.

I've asked around, but no one seems to have any answers.

Has anyone else seen something like this or have any idea what might have been going on?

Thanks, and looking forward to your thoughts.

Did you shoot it?

Originally Posted by Shearer

Did you shoot it?

Yeah

Originally Posted by TakaRat

Yeah

Did it seem in good health otherwise?

@TakaRat
Did you take any photos you could post here ?
Any chance it might have eaten 1080 ?

Did it look like this ?
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....s-mfdc0101.jpg

Originally Posted by 30.06king

@TakaRat
Did you take any photos you could post here ?
Any chance it might have eaten 1080 ?

Did it look like this ?
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....s-mfdc0101.jpg

I was thinking that it could have been 1080 too at the time. However, I had a look online and the area that I was in had no mention of 1080 on the DOC website

Originally Posted by Shearer

Did it seem in good health otherwise?

Yeah, the Deer looked healthy. I didn't look at its organs though

Originally Posted by TakaRat

Yeah, the Deer looked healthy. I didn't look at its organs though

The first thing I do is check the organs, it can tell you if the deer is healthy or not.

If offals have spots I would throw it.

A few years ago a mate of mine shot one after Watching do some very similar things, we had a close look at it and it had a lot of hair missing like it had been scratching/rubbing it off, especially on its legs. He never looked closely at the organs but decided no to eat the meat. Did a little bit of research and I think we decided it was probably jones disease from memory. This was the tauranga side of the kaimais

Were there any ticks on it?

Originally Posted by hebe

Were there any ticks on it?

Nah I didn't see any ticks

Have seen the same when wild deer have been enclosed after capture, run the fence line and catch their head in the mesh, used to be called "rick" neck. Maybe this animal caught itself on a vine etc while at full pace.

I spoke to a chopper pilot a couple of years back who said he'd occasionally seen deer running with their necks bent back, and no, they weren't looking over their shoulders at the chopper. Said he had seen it a few times over the years.

Most likely answer is it had a roll or a bit of a scratch and got itself cast and was attempting to get back on its feet. See similar behaviour in sheep and cattle.

Could it have been cast and your presence was giving it the impetus to have a better go at getting up?