WATCH: Fascinating Time-Lapse Video of Deer Turning to Dust

This is one of the most fascinating deer-related videos we have ever seen. Before you click on the “play” button, be warned that it is graphic — and might not be the best to view while you’re sitting down to a meal. Regardless, it is a first-hand glimpse into the raw power of Mother Nature, and how all things — living or dead — or put to use by our natural world.

Biologist Rob Nelson put a time-lapse camera on this roadkilled deer to see what would happen. How long did it take for the deer to turn to dust? You’d be surprised!

The deer in question is a white-tailed doe that was hit and killed by a motorist outside of Rob Nelson’s home. Nelson puts the deer in an enclosed fence near his home and allows nature to take its course. The time-lapse video runs for a full five days. You have to watch the video to truly comprehend how nature takes it course. Outside what appear to be one or two random birds, no other scavengers find the deer during the five days (in the heat of summer). The deer is completely turned to dust by maggots and beetles!

The time-lapse video, “Deer Turns to Dust Before My Eyes,” was produced in 2019 by biologist Rob Nelson and has generated more than 12 million views as of this writing. Nelson’s page, Stone Age Man, to help people reconnect to the real, wild world. 

“If you’re like me, you probably have a feeling that we’re missing something in this modern age,” he writes. “I’ve come to realize that we have to understand our past, to help us move forward. That’s what StoneAgeMan is all about. It’s a balance of science, history, human biology and nature.”

Again, don’t click the play button unless you’re truly ready to see what happens when a deer is left to decompose in the wild.

 

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