Mule Deer Fights Off A Mountain Lion In Wild Vintage Footage

Score one for the muley. California is, according to the NYT , the most diverse wildlife of any state, but for my money, none of the fauna are cooler than the mountain lion. While their territory runs almost the entirety of the western Americas (From southern Alaska to the southernmost part of Chile), California is home to one of the biggest populations in the United States, with an estimate of 4,000 to 6,000 in the wild, according to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife . The Golden State is also home to a much sought after population of deer, by both humans and lions, the mule deer. They tend to weight between 100 and 220 pounds, so they are a bit larger than the more popular and well known white-tailed deer. Each mountain lion eats around 48 “deer sized animals” per year, which puts the total number of deer consumed by mountain lions alone, just in California, at around 192,000 to 288,000 per year. Safe to say, the lions typically win these battles… But the CDFW gave us a treat a few years back when they released some vintage footage of a mule deer not only escaping the attack of a fully grown lion, but getting in its share of licks as well. Really cool stuff. Of course, the lion has to eat too, can’t deny that, but I don’t know what it is that makes people tend to root for the underdog… Maybe we’ve all seen Rocky a few too many times. https://youtu.be/2n6jJBzT83E