Sparring
Siskiyou Mountains – Jackson County – Oregon - USA
I came upon these two having a bit of a shoving match. I quickly changed my camera setting and got ready for the show. As it was early in the rut season, I was waiting for some real “blood and guts” fighting. After a few minutes of locking horns and pushing that reminded me of Greco Roman wrestling, the one on the right push the other down a small hill. They stood looking at each other for a moment and the looser came back up the hill and groomed the winner. Then they just started browsing some nearby oak leaves. I’m guessing since it was only early October and not a single doe was around, this was just a practice sparring session. I’m sure the encounter would have been much more intense if breeding rights were on the line.
Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)
Sparring
Siskiyou Mountains – Jackson County – Oregon - USA
I came upon these two having a bit of a shoving match. I quickly changed my camera setting and got ready for the show. As it was early in the rut season, I was waiting for some real “blood and guts” fighting. After a few minutes of locking horns and pushing that reminded me of Greco Roman wrestling, the one on the right push the other down a small hill. They stood looking at each other for a moment and the looser came back up the hill and groomed the winner. Then they just started browsing some nearby oak leaves. I’m guessing since it was only early October and not a single doe was around, this was just a practice sparring session. I’m sure the encounter would have been much more intense if breeding rights were on the line.
Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)