Video: Bobcat Ruthlessly Takes Down Deer Fawn
Daniel Xu 06.16.16
Think bobcats are harmless? Think again. These bite-sized predators aren’t as large as mountain lions, or hunt in packs like wolves, but that makes the bobcat no less deadly as a predator. In this video posted to Facebook by Outdoorfielder, a bobcat catches the scent of a deer fawn and doesn’t leave without dinner.
Fawns have little in the way of defending against a predator. Their only recourse is to stay low to the ground and hidden among thick vegetation. Fawns naturally have little scent, so predators are less likely to find them. However, when they do, the poor deer has nearly no chance. Unfortunately for them, just about every meat eater in North America likes venison, and mortality rates for fawns can be very high.
Bobcats just don’t target fawns either. Roughly speaking, a bobcat can bring down prey up to eight times its weight, and that means larger deer as well. The felines usually accomplish this by approaching the deer while its laying down and attempting to get a hold of its neck. If the bobcat does manage to kill the deer, which is relatively rare, it will eat what it can in one sitting and then cache the rest by burying it under snow or leaves.
If you have trail cams, setting one up near bobcat territory can reveal hours of fascinating footage—and a rare glimpse into the lives of these wild cats.
