Never heard of this happening before....
Turkey
I ran into a fellow turkey hunter at Tractor Supply the other day. We were commiserating about the reduced number of turkey sightings over the past few seasons. He mentioned that a friend of his had found a turkey nest and set a trail camera up overlooking the nest. Sure enough, a few days later, the eggs gone. His friend pulls the camera card.....and a whitetail deer had consumed the eggs!!
Jake, I’ve heard of them eating bird’s eggs, but a turkey egg ?
This post is worthless without pictures ??
From Google :::For years here in VA we have been blaming critters like raccoons, skunks and opossums for for preying on quail nests and contributing to the decline of wild birds here, but could another nest predator be to blame?
Whitetail deer!
Nola.com: Pam Pietz, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in North Dakota, set up miniature video cameras that ran 24 hours a day to document the fate of grassland songbird nests. She was surprised to find deer raided as many nests as badgers, and more than weasels or red foxes.
I can see a deer munching songbird or quail eggs if it happens across them, but Pietz’s research found they will also eat tiny unborn birds in a nest!
Biologists say that whitetails probably don’t go looking for nests to raid, but if they stumble across a nest full of eggs or babies they consume them and move on. And It does not appear to happen enough to be a major factor in the decline of wild quail or other bird populations.
The world of the whitetail sure is fascinating.
The only reason that I struck up a conversation with the guy at Tractor Supply is because his license plate was "Longberd". I don't know the guy, so I can't follow-up and ask for the photos.
I’ve seen a few videos of deer eating baby birds, fish, etc. Not sure how frequently it actually happens, though. The most unusual thing I’ve ever personally seen them eat, were hickory nuts. Probably fairly common for them to eat them. Sounded like a kid eating a jawbreaker.
T-Roy that just sounds painful hahah
T-Roy that just sounds painful hahah
I’ve watched swans eat up a goose nest; those goslings were probably just days from hatching.
And deer/Elk nipping off the wings of nestlings is well documented....
“ And It does not appear to happen enough to be a major factor in the decline of wild quail or other bird populations.”
Well, I guess there’s direct & indirect... Aren’t quail numbers down just about everywhere? And nowhere seems to have a whitetail shortage....
It’s more likely habitat loss and lack of nesting cover than predatory behavior, but a lot of that loss is due to the superabundance of whitetails, I’d think.
Either way, too many deer create problems. Makes it a little too easy for predators when there are lots of roadkills around, and then they’re in great condition to eat stuff that’s not dead yet....
Reminds me of that politician who said something like “Health Care! WHO KNEW it was so complicated??”
I watched a cow elk eat a chipmunk once.
Saw a hummingbird snap up a bug yesterday which I did not think they did.
I watched a coyote eat acorns for probably an hour one evening, he even laid on the ground while dining!
praying mantis ate a hummingbird, you tube
Sounds like he ran her off the nest dinking around and she abandoned it
85% of hummingbird prey comes from soft bugs Lewis
4Nolz, There is nothing to support that. I have accidently walked up on turkey nests, and it didn't stop hens from returning, and it's not like putting up a camera really requires much "dinking around".
And no evidence to the contrary.Flushing is one thing hanging around is another.
It may be for the calcium and protien. RMEF ran an article about elk eating bones for the minerals and protien.
Turkeys are screwed. Just when you thought they had a symbiotic relationship with deer you find out that even the deer are eating them lol
My neighbor told me that a bald eagle was getting one of his mallard ducks every day. Then he said a hen turkey with her young were coming around the edge of his field. He said the eagle dove in to grab a little turkey. He said the old hen turkey fended off the attack and took off after the eagle. He said the turkey caught the eagle mid flight and tore feathers out of the eagle. A few years ago my cousin and I were walking down a woods road when a hen turkey bounced out of the underbrush. I was trying to take a picture while backing up. The turkey kept after us so we ran a few yards and she stopped. My cousin said if I ever told anyone he ran from a turkey he would kill me. I guess it depends on the turkey, some will guard their nests. Democrat turkeys don't protect their nest or young.
