A Ring camera captured the unusual moment a magpie swooped down and landed on the back of an unsuspecting muntjac deer. The unflappable muntjac lifts his head in response, but leaves the cheeky bird to start its work.
The magpie immediately begins to pluck at the fur of the small deer, gathering the hair for nesting material. Jackdaws and magpies are most likely to engage in this behavior, creating a mutually beneficial relationship to help deer shed their winter coats.
Guy Maskall, a 71 year old retired engineer from Hertfordshire, who has been a Ring customer for two years, captured the sweet duo on his Ring Stick Up Camera in his garden.
Guy shared that he previously installed birdfeeders and planted a brown turkey fig tree for the wild animals to enjoy. He often checks his Ring Camera to see what footage has been captured, and was overjoyed when he spotted this rare moment.
Looking back at when he first saw the footage, Guy said:
“I showed it to my wife who said the magpie was not sitting on the muntjac’s back, but was on the ground. She was wrong of course (one of my few wins) and my children loved it too.”
While many Brits may not be aware of the muntjac, research from the British Deer Society revealed the species is rapidly increasing across the UK, with muntjacs now found in nearly all English counties and, more recently, spreading into Wales. Guy said it is common for him to see the small, stocky deer roaming around his garden.
When subscribed to the Ring Home Plan, all events are recorded and customers can download, save and rewatch footage up to 180 days later to share with friends and family, allowing customers to capture all the funny moments of pets or local wildlife that may otherwise be missed.
If you have a great clip of an animal captured on your Ring device and have Ring Home, you can simply press the ‘Share’ button on your Ring app and choose ‘Share with Ring’ to submit your footage to us. Find out more here.
