This mule deer buck was standing outside our door this morning. He seemed to know that hunting season is over, and that he was safe. He still has to watch out for predators, such as the mountain lion that left tracks here last week, but he escapes from them by stotting. Without looking it up, what is stotting?
Answer:
Stotting, also known as pronking, is a way of leaping with all four feet at once in very high bounds. It is thought that stotting discourages predators by showing them that the prey is strong, healthy, and will be very hard to catch. It also allows mule deer to move up steep slopes much faster than most predators can.
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