Behold the natural majesty of a bunch of deer getting high and freaking out on nitrous

A video captures deer sniffing naturally occurring nitrous oxide fumes coming from a decomposing leaf pile

By Reid McCarter  |  January 13, 2023 | 8:14pm
Aux Features Deer
Behold the natural majesty of a bunch of deer getting high and freaking out on nitrous
A deer dance battle breaks out on party hill. Screenshot: JS Project Wild

Nature provides so many beautiful sights for us to enjoy. The first rays of sunlight breaking over the horizon early in the morning; the dusting of snow that transforms a landscape; the cavorting of deer that have just snorted nitrous oxide fumes from a backyard leaf pile.

The last of these glorious phenomena, we are happy to report, was recently captured on video and shared online. We highly suggest taking a few minutes out of your day to watch it below.

My deer are getting high on Nitrous Oxide (NOS—laughing gas). Watch them loose their minds!

In a clip shot and uploaded to YouTube by JS Project Wild, a bunch of deer are shown having a big ol’ whippet party thanks to their discovery of a giant pile of decomposing leaves, which naturally produces nitrous oxide emissions. The first part of the video sees a lone deer digging at the snow-covered leaves, sticking its snout down in, then hopping around in delight. Over the selection of scenes that follow, taken in various seasons, we see whole groups of the animals wilding out on the fumes. They jump into each other, sprint back and forth like maniacs, and rear up to shadow box each other.

“Want to see deer lose their minds and act accordingly?” the video description reads, explaining that the channel’s owner has a “huge” decomposing pile that includes some leaves dating back over four years.

“I periodically ‘stir’ the pile with my loader tractor,” the write-up continues. “However, [if] the leaves on the top are dry the deer will actually dig down to the rotting leaves and then inhale. It’s crazy—at different times in the video you will actually see them do this.”

The resulting deer behavior isn’t necessarily the most embarrassing thing we’ve ever seen these creatures do on video and it looks like they’re having a pretty good time. That they do all of this without littering the woods with little metal canisters or charging each other for access to the leaf pile only goes to show that the animals are much more responsible and equitable than we are.

[via Boing Boing]

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