Sometimes we forget that different animal species interact in the wild.
Animals, even those who do not necessarily know each other, have a way of protecting each other.
The story we have today is proof of that.
This incredible rescue of a rabbit from a hawk assault by a deer was captured on camera and has gone viral.
A rescue operation on another level
In Wisconsin’s Nordic Mountain Country Park, a mighty hawk can be seen swooping down on a rabbit before its victim screams out in agony on security camera footage.
A deer bravely appears out of nowhere and dashes toward the hawk, kicking it with its hooves and allowing the rabbit to flee.
It all happened so fast.
The bird is afterward repeatedly trampled on and bitten by the deer for up to three minutes until it passes away.
The deer didn’t hold back at all.
Kris Miller, a 29-year-old operations manager, found the video on June 11.
When he noticed a red-tailed hawk lying dead nearby while cutting trees, he made the decision to watch the videos from the neighboring camera.
He was curious about what happened.
“The rabbit started to make a distress call and the deer may have mistaken the call for her own fawn’s distress call,” Kris remarked.
“Or maybe, it’s just a true Bambi and Thumper story.” He also remarked that he has never witnessed anything like it before.
When he decided to see for himself what exactly happened to the hawk, he wasn’t expecting to see the whole thing.
It surprised him.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘hawks don’t just fall from the sky and die’ so I noticed we were in front of one of our security cameras and was hoping I could see what really happened,” he recalled.
“I played back the footage on my phone and what I found was astonishing,” he shared. “I showed it to my co-worker and he didn’t know what to say.”
It doesn’t happen every day.
Since the place is a county park, hunting isn’t really allowed in the area.
Because of this, numerous white tail deers opt to reside in the park where they feel safe.
The red-tailed hawk can be seen in the video either straining to hold the rabbit or swooping down to get it, which is why the deer was able to easily rescue the rabbit.
The doe didn’t waste a second.
The video spread like wildfire with millions of views.
It has been shared thousands of times as well.
With that, the video has garnered thousands of comments as well.
“For over 20 years, we have lived with deer coming through our yard, hanging out, just chilling. Never in my life have I ever [seen] a deer behave this way,” one commenter posted. “Amazing to watch.”
“This is one of those things that if you witnessed this with your own eyes and tried to tell someone, no one would believe you. Incredible this was caught on video,” another one wrote.
Indeed, this is probably one of the most astonishing rescue operations ever!
See the wild rescue firsthand in the video below.
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