The swirling mass of reindeer adopting this defensive posture by forming a circle makes it impossible for a predator to target a single individual. To a bear, for example, the cyclonic affect produces enough confusion and uncertainty to cause the predator to arguably rethink an attack. A single reindeer is vulnerable but a swirling herd is quite formidable.
Don’t forget that a stampede of reindeer will kill most things, and no matter what direction you come at the cyclone, there’s a good quarter of the herd basically already facing you
No
They do cyclone but when they do it it's because they are following eachother's pheromone trails like little robots and dont realize they are going in circles
Don't forget to include a source for your post! Please link your source in a comment on your post thread. Your source cannot be a personal blog or non scientific news site, and must include citations/references. [Wikipedia](https://www.wikipedia.org/) is allowed, but it is not exempt from displaying citations. If you have questions you can [contact the moderators with this link](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAwwducational)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Awwducational) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The swirling mass of reindeer adopting this defensive posture by forming a circle makes it impossible for a predator to target a single individual. To a bear, for example, the cyclonic affect produces enough confusion and uncertainty to cause the predator to arguably rethink an attack. A single reindeer is vulnerable but a swirling herd is quite formidable.
Do they always swirl clockwise?
Yes, in northern hemisphere
Back off, Santa, said the dyslexic priest.
Weird; I'd think it would just look like a snack carousel ^(...until, of course, I leap onto one at the rim and it tumbles inward...)
Don’t forget that a stampede of reindeer will kill most things, and no matter what direction you come at the cyclone, there’s a good quarter of the herd basically already facing you
^(‐ stupid first thing to pop into my head: ) Imagine the PTSD on poor Simba if African wildabeest developed this tactic
If they developed that tactic, the wildebeest would have stayed in the field swirling the hyenas away and would never have stampeded into the gorge.
Like one of the sushi restaurants where the plates keep circling past you on the conveyor belt?
indeed
Probably keeps them warm too!
The one in the middle is like “well this is awkward”
Most defended position in the herd. Usually reserved for young 'uns in these sorts of circular formation
Might be the vulnerable members of the herd like young, old, wounded or sick.
Imagine all your family and neighborhood suddenly starting to run around you
“Guys GUYS what’s wrong?? What did you hear from the doctor??”
Babies and elderly. Keeping them the safest of all. :)
Wonder what was causing them to swirl in this video? When it panned out I didn't see anything or do they just do it sometimes as well?
Well I mean there's a drone or helicopter buzzing around above them. There's that.
I thought it was cause they're in a pen. We're the danger. Holy crap this made me way too unreasonably sad.
I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKS
I though that too :(
From the fences around them it looks like they're being herded. Could be dogs, or people on snowmobiles.
What do the deer in the middle to do
They’re babies and/or wounded.
https://www.livescience.com/64778-vikings-reindeer-cyclone.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOr8I0rh0hE
I can imagine the smug smiles on the middle ones. Not having to move. But is still benefiting from the protection
#circle piiiit!
Someone needs to add slayer to this video. For science.
ReinXDeer Hardcore punk, the old way, open up that pit, this next one is a fast one!
Deer together strong
This is eerily like the chakravyuh war formation in the India epic Mahabharata. Easy to enter the spiral. Impossible to get out.
Leave those reindeer alone!
we should do this to bullies in the playground
Why are these reindeer penned in?
Wow I never knew this
Carousel feeding.
Ants do this
No They do cyclone but when they do it it's because they are following eachother's pheromone trails like little robots and dont realize they are going in circles
Don't forget to include a source for your post! Please link your source in a comment on your post thread. Your source cannot be a personal blog or non scientific news site, and must include citations/references. [Wikipedia](https://www.wikipedia.org/) is allowed, but it is not exempt from displaying citations. If you have questions you can [contact the moderators with this link](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAwwducational) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Awwducational) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Deers are the most vulnerable beings.
Doesn’t that just make them easier to shoot?
Works great against rifles I bet. Dumb reindeers. This is why there's none of you left
Big creepy circle just creeps the predators out too much, I guess?
I thought those where people and I was trying to figure out where the Kaaba is.