That’s a wild one to witness when you’re out for a round with the boys.
These golf courses offer open areas that provide habitat to many animals. You can see some cool things well you’re swinging the clubs around.
If you’ve ever been to courses in Evergreen or Estes Park, Colorado, you’ll learn real quick that you’re sharing the fairway with a ton of elk.
Coyotes however, are medium-sized mammals that average around 30 pounds. Mule deer, on the other hand, are much larger animals that can weigh up to 200 pounds. In size, muleys have coyotes beat by a lot, towering over them and out-weighing them.
However, despite their smaller size, coyotes are known to hunt mule deer. In the wild, coyotes are opportunistic predators and will eat a variety of prey, including small mammals, birds, and reptiles. However, they also hunt larger prey such as mule deer fawns, especially during winter when food is scarce.
Coyotes hunt mule deer by stalking them and waiting for the right moment to attack. While they don’t tend to hunt in large packs like wolves do, they will sometimes hunt in smaller family groups to increase their chances of success. Often, they target the old, young or sick to have a better shot at getting a meal.
These boys were out for a round of golf when they witnessed something you would never suspect.
Three adult mule deer and a fawn were out feeding on the fairway. A coyote approaches in and begins to try and get close to the fawn.
The three adult deer immediately go on the defense and surround the fawn, giving the coyote a kick every time it gets close. But, the coyote doesn’t stop and keeps pushing, using its speed to run circles around the herd. It even gets ahold of the fawn before the other deer hit it with a flurry of kicks.
As the fawn breaks free, another coyote comes into view and then a third. We have a full blown brawl going down on the course, and the deer don’t quite know what to do with the group.
Two of the coyotes end up taking the fawn down again, but the other deer are quick to come to the rescue and fight them off.
The deer get situated again and form their circle of protection around the fawn again, and the coyotes are back to square one.
It is unsure if they got the fawn, but what an encounter.
You never know what you’re gonna get on the back nine.
Mule Deer Sneaks Into Bison Herd To Escape Coyote
Talk about quick thinking.
Coyotes can be some of the most dangerous creatures in all of the wild, especially if they have a partner. Not known to hunt in packs like wolves, coyotes generally keep it much smaller, like their immediate family.
Most of the time they hunt solo, but can work together, making it much more difficult for their prey to escape.
A mule deer found itself being chased down by one of these coyotes in Yellowstone National Park.
Of course, deer typically feed off vegetation, acorns, and things of that nature and when they’re young, they are the perfect prey for coyotes.
In the footage, you see the deer frantically running away, but luckily enough, there’s a herd of bison nearby.
In a desperate attempt, the deer runs to the group of stampeding bison, and quickly gets lost in the large number of the creatures.
You can see the coyote trying to figure out where the deer disappeared to.
The videographer shared in the caption:
“Up Slough Creek, in Yellowstone National Park, on Saturday, October 15, 2022 (the day the East Entrance Road reopened after June flood damage) the bison were stampeding off and on, so I was taking some phone video when a mule deer sprinted into the frame, pursued by a coyote.
Genius-level survival strategy on the part of the deer- run into the bison herd. Coyote abandoned the pursuit.”
Needless to say, I can imagine the relief the mule deer was feeling once it found its way into safety inside the herd of bison.
Check it out:
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Young Elk Tries To Escape A Wolf AND Grizzly Bear
It’s hard out here for an elk…
Even in a National Park like Banff, where wildlife is so abundant, it’s not every day that you’re gonna witness an animal encounter like this.
On top of that, to catch it all on video… even crazier.
It might not be the best quality, and our dude is no Steven Spielberg, but amazing none the less.
It starts with a shaking video as you notice something on shore on the far side of the river. It ends up being a wolf chasing a calf elk into the river. It must have nipped it because the elk starts crying pretty hard as it gets into the water. Opting to stay dry, the wolf decides not to pursue, and he glances up at the onlookers before retreating back into the woods.
The young elk lives to fight another day…
Not so fast.
Just as you think the elk may have gotten away, here comes the grizzly charging into the water, making its way across the river. It ends up down stream a ways from the elk still fighting its way back to shore.
As the grizzly hits land, it shows you one of the many reasons they are such an incredible animal. In a matter of seconds it ends up right were the elk touched down on shore and chases it back into the water underneath a bridge.
The bikers who are filming are completely in shock and I can’t really blame them. Imagine your morning work out going along enjoying a bike ride in the mountains and you witness a sequence of events like this?
The elk comes out from under the bridge with the bear right on it tail.
“This is the most epic shit ever… This is planet earth.”
Not for the elk…
However, I see no lies here, it is pretty epic. This would be some type of stuff you see on Planet Earth.
As the elk swims down river it gets some distance on the grizzly. Smart move young one, smart move. The elk made it safely to shore, only to find the wolf waiting for him..
Welp…
“At the end of the video the elk gains some distance but ends up on shore with wolf waiting on the train tracks and the grizzly bear eventually catching up.
Not sure exactly who wins but its definitely not the elk.”
Nature can be a cruel, cruel beast.
