Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda is quite active on social media and often treats his followers with amazing wildlife videos. Recently, he shared another fascinating video of a deer eating a snake. Deer are considered herbivores that primarily consume plant materials as their main diet. A passerby in a car was able to capture this rare sight.
In the video, a deer can be seen standing by the roadside in a forest area and chewing on a snake. The man recording the video can be heard in the background, "Is he eating a snake?"
According to National Geographic, Deer may pursue flesh because they lack minerals like phosphorous, salt, and calcium, especially in the winter months when plant life is scarce.
Along with the now-viral picture, the caption reads, "Cameras are helping us understand Nature better. Yes. Herbivorous animals do eat snakes at times."
Watch the video here:
The video was also shared by a page titled Science Girl. The page explained the unusual behaviour of the animal. "Deer are herbivores and classified as ruminants because of their rumen, which helps them digest tough plant matter like cellulose. But if food is scarce or they lack minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, they may eat meat Watch this one eat a snake," the caption read.
Since being posted, the video has amassed more than 1 lakh views on Twitter and triggered an array of comments.
A user commented, "Really, very strange, no sir?"
Another user wrote, "Nature is full of incredible and sometimes unexpected interactions, and this video showcases one such instance. It serves as a reminder of the vast diversity of animal behaviour and the unique ways in which different species adapt to survive."
"Certainly. Goes on to also suggest that there is no such thing as 'rule of nature' instead, there are patterns and there is no such thing as 'balance of nature' instead there is evolution," the third user commented.
"Herbivores can eat meat. Carnivores cannot eat grass. It's based on gut chemistry. Eating snakes is more about survival than a diet. It makes sense to eat snakes that hide in the grass to kill them. Meat is fine if easily available, but hunting isn't what their bodies evolved for," the fourth user wrote.
"That was a startling discovery which puts a question mark on the herbivorous and carnivorous nature of animals," the fifth commented.
