Deer Rescues Bunny From Hawk In “True Bambi And Thumper Story”

Ah, nature. It’s a place of beauty but also one of peril that spawns tale after tale. From the fictional wonders wilderness inspires to the true-life stories of wildlife doing the incredible, the wild world never disappoints.

And this video from a security camera in Wisconsin’s Nordic Mountain County Park brings us another unbelievable moment that reminds us that while nature is vicious in its instincts, those same instincts can also be used to protect defenseless prey caught in the grip of a predator. Watch as a deer charges in to save a rabbit from the clutches of a hawk and then viciously puts the bird down.

Who Knew Deer Kicked Tail?

Kris Miller, the operations manager for Nordic Mountain, was out trimming trees when he came upon a dead red-tailed hawk lying in the middle of a green field. Checking the CCTV, Kris was “astonished” by the footage.

The video revealed a hawk swooping down and grabbing a rabbit. Caught in the hawk’s grip, things looked bad for the furry one. But suddenly, entering from stage right, a doe tears into the field and rounds about on the hawk, furiously lashing at the bird with its front legs.

The bunny darts away to safety, but the deer continues to thrash the hawk. And she keeps up the fight for probably a good two minutes, pawing, stamping, and biting until the bird stops moving. The deer finally turns away but returns a few times to pounce the bird, almost as if she’s checking to be sure the hawk is genuinely dead.

A second deer comes across the screen and bounds quickly away, leaving the doe to kick the hawk yet again! The second deer then returns to inspect the scene, looking like she’s telling her friend, “Hey, I think you got it.”

Why Such a Response?

But just what triggered the doe to save the rabbit and kill the hawk?

“The rabbit started to make a distress call and the deer may have mistaken the call for her own fawn’s distress call,” Kris explained. “Or maybe, it’s just a true Bambi and Thumper story.”

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Whatever the reason for the deer’s response, it dispels the notion that deer are all sweet little Bambi-types because this video reveals a side of the gentle and graceful creatures we never thought possible. And as it turns out, deer are really action heroes to those in need.