Deer and their Reaction

[Dr. Dalek]

My father, like myself is a Deer hunter. He once speculated, that if one were to leave a boom box in the middle of the woods deer would not be afraid of it, and might actualy be curious about it and approach it. For the same reason that deer will avoid a hunter like the plauge, but will walk out in front of a car nearly without heasitation. He suggested that hey have instincts to avoid hunters, and things that hide while trying to be silent, but something that makes no secret about its presence is obviously no threat to them.

So does anyone else have any thoughts. How would Deer react to a Boom Box in the forest?

[Fromage]

Hmm... very interesting... I think the deer would first be afraid, but upon realizing that it didn't move or otherwise pose a threat, would be fine with it. They might ever get used to the noise, though; I don't know how sensitive their ears are.

 

Somebody should try this, I'd like to know what would happen.

[Glider]

The boom box does not display the signal characteristics of a 'predator', so after initial fear (due to its novelty), the deer would habituate to it. I doubt they would approach it though, as the noise it makes would interfere with their ability to listen for danger.

 

Something moving with obvious stealth on the other hand, displays the major characteristic of a predator. It's not an instinctive fear of human hunters, but an instinctive fear of hunters in general. All ambush hunters tend to move in the same way, stalking. Humans are just a lot more clumsy and easy to spot.

[herpguy]

Somebody should try this, I'd like to know what would happen.

I have a patch of woods behind my house, so I'll try it and report back here.

 

What i think would happen is the deer will approach it for the same reasons Glider says. I think it also has to do with curiosity.

 

Side question: Why do deer pause in front of cars?

[Dr. Dalek]

I have a patch of woods behind my house, so I'll try it and report back here.

 

What i think would happen is the deer will approach it for the same reasons Glider says. I think it also has to do with curiosity.

 

Side question: Why do deer pause in front of cars?

 

They don't know what to make of them. They have no instinct that ells them to avoid, or to approach them. Especialy if they are young they don't know they are dangerous so that leaves their curiosity. Plus Deer arn't that smart.

[herpguy]

Side note: My friend told me about how he almost never sees deer, but when there was construction at his house he saw two or three a day. When the construction stopped, the deer went away again.

 

His conclusion: They weren't scared of the loud noises that other animals avoided.

 

The same type of thing should happen with a boom box.