The Challenge

This pic is a little hard to see, but the two deer in the background are issuing a challenge to each other over who gets near the food. Note the deer in the middle's posture with ears back and ready to kick out with her front legs. All this was was "posturing" and no one touched each other. The deer on the right backed down right away and retreated back in the woods, thus the hierarchy was maintained. This occasional conflict is part and parcel of the deer's social structure, however, it was the first time I've actually witnessed the "up on hind legs challenge," so it was pretty exciting to see.

What I find most amusing is the doe on the left casually watching the whole thing take place - another indication that this is a common occurrence. I will try to locate the actual video footage and post it, but once again, Mother Nature settled everything quite peacefully, and everyone had a chance to eat.