Deer are known to behead chicks and chew on their legs and wings. They have also been observed gnawing on bones from decomposing human corpses.
It makes for disturbing viewing: In a 22-second video shared recently on Instagram, a white-tailed deer locks eyes with the camera as it nonchalantly slurps up a dead snake like it's a strand of spaghetti. The somewhat unnerving scene, filmed by Texas-based Trey Reinhardt, provoked alarm across social media about the deer's diet.Deer aren't naturally built for catching animals or consuming meat.
These amount to more than just one-off observations. In 1988, researchers documented red deer in Scotland beheading seabird chicks and gnawing on their legs and wings. Why do herbivores sometimes eat meat?What's behind these meaty feasts? They may in fact be an entirely logical survival hack. Deer may lack the evolutionary capabilities to tackle, kill and tear apart prey — but prone or dead animals represent an easy target and a rich source of minerals, proteins, and fats compared to the plants that deer stomachs have to work exceptionally hard to process. .
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