By Staff
Many wildlife experts theorize adult wild animals have no room in their lives for play; that it's not even in their psyche. It's a tough world out there and the priorities of food, water, shelter and procreation are all-consuming, not to mention the hazards of letting your guard down even for a moment. I disagree for I have seen animals let their hair down and just have fun. I've written before about watching ducks riding the fast current of an 'S' curve in the creek that runs through our yard. They laboriously paddle their way to the head of the fast run then turn and come bobbing downstream at full tilt. They repeat this over and over. It's obviously just for the fun of it.
Another instance I'll never forget is when the wife and I were camping at our Marcellus farm. Shortly after dawn I awoke to a squawking commotion coming from a close by alfalfa field. Checking it out, we found a deer chasing a sandhill crane. The crane would run with wings flailing ahead of the doe. As the doe got real close the crane would speed up into low flight and the deer would stop. The crane would immediately circle around and land near the doe and the chase would resume. They did lap after lap around the 20-acre field for 20 minutes until the doe finally just walked off into the woods. The crane was obviously just having fun. I don't know for sure about the doe. Was she protecting a fawn hidden in the alfalfa (not that cranes feed on fawns)? If so, why did she give up and leave? Maybe she was just annoyed at the raucous, audacious crane. Or, maybe, she was enjoying the game of tag, too.
Then there's the time I was high atop a mountain in Washington State. In a clear cut below was a herd of a dozen or so cow elk hanging out near a huge, limbless log lying on the ground. I guessed the log was three-feet across and about 20-feet long. I was stunned when one of the elk hopped up on the end of the log, walked its full length and then hopped off. As if she said, "I bet you guys can't do that" another elk did the same thing, then another and another. Off and on for over an hour the elk took turns walking the log. Tell me that wasn't just for the frivolous fun of it.
What prompts this topic is an event I witnessed just a couple evenings ago. Three deer walked into the shallow section of the creek in our yard, two does and a buck sprouting small, velvety, spiked antlers. This is not uncommon; deer routinely cross here and sometimes wade around feeding on aquatic weeds. This time the buck started acting goofy, raising up on his hind legs and splashing his forefeet down into the water. Then he raced downstream at full speed for 100 feet or so, slammed on the brakes and started spinning around in circles just like a frolicking dog. Without pause he raced back upstream to the does, did a few more spins spraying water all over them, then raced back downstream. He did this probably seven or eight times as the does stood in apparent amazement. Then he gently butted one of the does with his head as if to say, "Come on you old hags, loosen up and have some fun." After a few seconds the doe he butted started jumping and splashing around, hesitantly at first but eventually getting into it by jumping up with all four feet out of the water and splashing back down.
The buck joined in, bucking and splashing alongside the doe. The other stodgy doe must have thought her partners were insane and waded across the creek, crossed the yard and disappeared into the woods. After a bit more splashing the two frolickers stopped, calmly crossed the creek and followed the party pooper into the woods. No matter how hard life is sometimes you've just got to let your hair down and have some fun. Carpe diem.