Oh, Deer!

I was walking through a field and noticed movement on an open hillside some distance away. I couldn't tell what it was because of the trees and brush blocking my view. A few moments later, a small herd of deer appeared in the field and they were running towards me. At first, I thought maybe they had spotted me in the distance and spooked, but that didn't make sense because deer don't run toward humans if they've seen or smelled us.

I was upwind of the deer and as they approached, they picked up my scent and stopped seeming a bit confused. I stood still behind some small trees as they looked for the source of the human scent. Some of them kept looking back and, finally, they turned around and ran the other way. There was a wooded hillside to my right and I could see them through the trees as they ran up the hill. They joined some more deer and I counted a dozen or more as they disappeared into another field on top of the hill.

Shortly afterwards, I discovered the source of all the excitement...they were being chased by a dog. Apparently, the dog had spooked them initially and then they ran into me as they were escaping. That created the confusion until they decided to split the difference and escape up the hill between me and the dog. I saw the dog a couple of minutes later and the deer had easily left him behind.

Linking to Camera Critters