Saturday 29 August 2009

Deer 'fakes death' to escape cheetah and a hyena: video

A deer "fakes its own death" to escape being eaten by a cheetah and a hyena, in an inspiring nature video that is fast becoming an online hit.


Published: 4:07PM BST 28 Aug 2009

The prone deer looks certain to become dinner for one of the vying predators, but exploits their battle to sprint to freedom after "convincing" them that its life is ebbing.

The clip begins with footage of the cheetah gnawing the leg of its fallen prey in preparation for an expected feast.

But his banquet is disturbed by the arrival of a hyena that runs in from the wilderness, scaring the cheetah away and claiming the deer as its own.

It begins to bite into the animal's belly, with the lifeless deer offering no resistance.

Certain that his main course is going nowhere, the hyena dashes towards the loitering cheetah to ensure that it does not have to share its dinner.

But as the two animals tussle, the deer seizes its chance, springing to its feet and speeding into the safety of the undergrowth.

The provenance and location of the footage are not certain, but the deer's lucky escape has been enchanting thousands of web users since it was posted on LiveLeak, the video-sharing website on Friday.

Last year a hunter in the US state of Missouri was shocked to come under attack from a large deer that he was convinced he had just shot dead. Randy Goodman, 49, described the deer's back-from-the-dead assault as "15 seconds of hell", but eventually managed to kill it with two more shots.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6105862/Deer-fakes-death-to-escape-cheetah-and-a-hyena-video.html

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