Squaring Off
This photo, taken at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, shows two whitetail bucks squaring off to spar before the rut. This is a ritual betw...
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This photo, taken at Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, shows two whitetail bucks squaring off to spar before the rut. This is a ritual between two familiar deer, where they establish their dominance for the ensuing breeding season. This isn't a kill fight, as would occur if an unfamiliar deer tried to breed in a dominant buck's turf, but rather a wrestling match using the antlers as leverage until one becomes so exhausted that he's forced to retreat.
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