YouTube video of what happens when a female deer protects it's fawn.

I don't agree with the people allowing this to happen and they were severely admonished when this hit the local news about a week ago. FWIW, the 14 year old dog in the video was physically fine but "traumatized" according to the Vet quoted in the news story.

I can well imagine those deer hooves can do some damage though...

YouTube Video Link.

BTW, Cranboook is in southeastern British Columbia, Canada.

I would say that doe is a good mother.

Does have been known to go after people too.

Kids think fawns are cute.
A doe would kick at a kid just like she went after the dog and cat if they got too close to her fawn.

That would be a good clip to have handy if you were trying to explain why you should leave baby animals alone.

Notice that I didn't just say wild animals.
Domestic animals can become extremely protective too.

Interesting.

She perceived the dog as a threat even from a distance, and immediately attacked, apparently trying to drive it off.

Her reaction to the cat was more like "I'm not sure if you're dangerous or not, but I'd rather not have you so close to my baby." Then she sniffed at the cat, as if she were saying, "What exactly are you?"

Then the cat batted (clawed?) her nose, and it was "Okay, you ARE dangerous! You're out of here too!"

There was a video on TV a few years ago of a man (I think he was from here in WA, maybe Toledo area) who got pounded by a buck in just the same way. The moron had doused himself with elk lure (urine). I guess the buck thought it was some kind of trick...

Sue

This, I suspect, is pretty much analogous to a man, in a passionate embrace, finding out his girlfriend is a male. There are men with sufficient perspective, or predilection, who could handle such a situation gracefully but most men can't or won't.

A buck spends considerable amounts of time and effort following a scent trail expecting to find a receptive doe. Instead he finds a human male poorly equipped to handle the situation in an appropriate manner. The buck, quite naturally, can be expected to take out his frustration and anger on said human.

The deer story is great.

Here's a related story: "Aggressive beaver on the rampage after escape."

The headline writers are having lots of fun with this. But it's a beaver (or beavers) defending a pond and kits against dogs in an off-leash area. Get this -- several dogs mauled, and a Husky killed!

Never underestimate a mother defending her young!

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/science/story.html?id=3278484

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Aggressive+beaver+ramapge+after+escape/3286724/story.html

It could also be rabies, which tends to be endemic in mammalian wildlife.

Sue