When a shortage of certain minerals shows up in her animals, She finds a way for them to get what they need! It may not be pretty, but you can bet it's effective!
Bloodthirsty Deer
The Isle of Rum, off the west coast of Scotland, is home to only about 20 people. And some bloodthirsty deer. The diet of the Scottish Red Deer is the stuff of nightmares; they dine on the heads and limbs of baby seabirds. For some time, it was a mystery what was mutilating the Manx shearwater chicks of Rum, until the deer were observed chewing on them. It is believed this chilling adaptation has been adopted by the deer to make up for a mineral deficiency in their diet, the bones of the birds likely giving them some desperately needed calcium. The phenomenon remains under investigation.
I like the idea of living on an island with only 20 folks in residence, but the idea of meat eating deer running around makes me more than a little nervous, if you know what I mean!
Coffee in the kitchen this morning. We had some thunderstorms over night, and the patio is pretty wet.
12 comments:
That is bizarre, considering what we think we know about deer.
Hey Linda...
Came as a surprise to me as well! You just never know, I reckon!
Thanks for coming over today!
Now what they should do is save all their food bones, pile 'em up and leave them for the deer!
It's been raining here too - waiting for the storm to come up the coast.
I'll bring some crumb buns for all to enjoy!
Those antlers require a lot of calcium, too!
Wow...that is all I can say...a cozy kitchen sounds nice..it's cool and wet here...crumb buns sound good as well.. Thanks for the invite!
Zombie deer! Vampire deer! Trapped on a small island with plant eaters turned flesh eaters!
Sounds like a bad horror movie.
That is really gruesome, but necessary. I too like the idea of living in a community with only 20 people but not with bloodthirsty deer. Very cool here again - 50 degrees - and overcast (rained last night) so coffee inside sounds good. Have a great weekend.
Yes thats nature alright. Poor little birds. I think saving up the bones from the folks left overs there is a good idea as long as you take them far away from humans homes.
Coffee in the kitchen sounds wonderful and the crumb buns sound great.
I agree, the idea of living on an island with few people, preferabely some distance away from me, is nice but those deers are a bit nasty :-) Thankfully none of ours need to do that :-)
Have a great day!
Christer.
Deer aren't the only herbivores that crave meat at certain times....even rabbits will eat meat if their diet is not rich enough.
Hey Phyllis...
Maybe they like their bones fresh. Who knows?
Looks like you are in for some bad weather in your area!
Thanks for coming over today!
Hey Gorges...
That's something I had not considered!
Thanks for coming by today!
Hey Mamahen...
There's times when no place beats a warm and cozy kitchen.
Thanks for dropping by today!
Hey Sixbears...
It really does sound a bit bizarre, doesn't it?
Not a movie I want to watch!
Thanks for coming over!
Hey Linda...
I agree that the deer are enough to mess with your mind a bit!
Thanks for coming over today
Hey Jo...
Luckily there are enough birds to go around! Maybe that will keep them from going after human kids!
Thanks for coming over this morning!
Hey Christer...
I know that you put out feed for the deer in your area in the winter. Probably a good idea after reading this!
Thanks for the visit today!
Hey Herlanderwalking...
Thanks for filling my head with the image of a big, flesh eating rabbit. This island is getting more creepy by the moment!
Seriously, thanks for coming by today!
I've seen a carnivor deer just once. The deer was picking berries off of a blackberry bush and a little greyish brown bird was fluttering around it. The little bird might have had a nest in the bush. The deer evidently got tired of the little bird and quickly turned her head, chomped down on it and chewed it up. Never seen it happen before nor since!
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