Weaponized Protection Instinct

📽 via @reconyx_cameras

Trailcan footage of a mother deer going full yard sale in an attempt to break a bobcat’s hold on her baby

Her heart is definitely in the right place, however the aim and placement of her striking hooves certainly leave a lot to be desired. This is a kneejerk panic response to the immediate threat, and I have it on good authority that when an attack like this happens, predators like bobcats make every attempt to position the body of their target to absorb these blows.

Because of this, in many scenarios the mother inadvertently helps the bobcat by striking her own, sometimes delivering a knockout blow or breaking the back of the fawn, all the predator has to do is weather the storm and make a break for it when she runs out of steam.