Animal photography enthusiast Andrew Fusek Peters just captured what might be one of the most remarkable images he has taken in his career.
This deer is pictured sitting in the British countryside alongside his pals. But they are not fellow deer – they are a herd of cows!
Images of the deer, who seemed to be convinced that he is one of them, was captured by the wildlife photographer after he was “adopted” by the herd several months ago, according to SWNS. The confused deer has been seen grazing alongside the cows after he was separated from his original herd.
“This particular male has, for some strange reason, adopted these cows as his herd and stays with them almost every day – grazing, lying down and acting rather like a cow himself,” Fusek Peters said.
“This type of deer behavior has never been observed or captured before and really is a Shropshire wonder. You certainly never see a deer that thinks it’s a cow. It’s like the deer is copying the cows,” he added.
The unusual sighting was captured on April 8, when Fusek Peters stayed for several hours at the Shropshire field. He said that a friend of his had been telling him about this rare companionship for months.
“A neighbor has been telling me for months about this,” Fusek Peters said. “He said, ‘This deer has been hanging out with a herd of cows. You have to go and see it.’”
So he did. And as it turns out, the effort of driving to the area was well worth it.
“One day he rang me and said ‘the deer is there right now’. I drove straight to the farmer’s field and spent several hours there with a long lens. The cows were in another field before and the deer was with them then too. It’s just bonkers,” he said.
You will surely encounter beautiful and rare moments in the wildlife when doing animal photography, and that includes sometimes strange yet hilarious scenes!
If you’re into animal photography, check out Andrew Fusek Peter’s website.