We absolutely love kayaking for how it helps to connect us with nature. It's so easy to slip up on wildlife in a scenic place when there isn't a loud motor idling to clue the animals in to danger. We've seen a lot of interesting things while kayaking, but the paddlers in this video had an encounter that was more unexpected than most. These kayakers are temporarily stopped when they spot a young whitetail deer in the water with them. Showing no fear of humans, the young buck confidently strolls up and sniffs the feet of one of the paddlers. Then the deer approaches the man.
The kayaker does what any of us would probably do, he reaches up and tries to pet the buck. To his surprise, the deer lets him pet it. In fact, he seems to enjoy it! It's one of those scenarios where if there wasn't video to prove it happened, no one would probably believe it.
Who would have thought a buck likes to have his growing antlers rubbed? This was a rather unique scenario, one that goes against every instinct this animal should have about humans. The obvious explanation is that somewhere someone either fed this deer from a young age, or they raised it and eventually released it back into the wild. That would explain the makeshift collar on this deer. In turn, it will likely affect the animal's ability to evade predators be they natural or human. We doubt that collar is going to stop anyone from shooting it.
In fact, many state wildlife agencies will investigate and often ticket anyone they catch caring for a wild animal. There does seem to be a greater awareness of leaving untended fawns alone than there used to be. Mostly because many agencies have put more of an emphasis into educating the public on newborn wildlife these days. Still, this was a cool encounter to capture on video. We only hope that buck's survival instincts kick in as the fall approaches.
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