A hardy whitetail buck was captured on a Wisconsin trail camera miraculously recovering from a severely broken leg in just a matter of weeks.
The proliferation of trail cameras allows documentation of events in nature that humans typically won’t see and in this case, a young buck named Tino was recorded making a recovery from a bad injury.
The video begins on November 28 with Tino unable to put any weight on the leg whatsoever. His leg is visibly broken but despite the pain, he soldiers on as he continues to graze with his fellow deer.
Fast forward a couple of weeks later and Tino is still struggling, barely able to walk. However, by the end of 2023 he is looking a little better and even chasing a few female deer.
But by January 19, Tino is captured on trail camera walking. The injured front right leg is now barely noticeable as he continues to graze in his snowy Wisconsin woods.
In a further video on the A Wisconsin Wildlife Journal YouTube channel, the man who recorded the footage says he was “so impressed with how tough this buck was.”
The worker explains that he believes Tino’s broken leg was the result of being hit by a vehicle. “It’s really a savage fracture of the radius and ulna,” he says.
“When we saw those videos of his leg dangling like that, the question pops to mind ‘What chance does this deer have?’”
Being a natural prey for many species, Tino’s injury made him highly susceptible and yet he amazed viewers by surviving.
“The fact he lived long enough for it to heal is amazing,” wrote one YouTube commenter. “Beat the odds against predators and still found time to mate.”
“Wild animals are incredible… Not only being able sometimes to survive from injuries, wounds or sickness and how harsh the elements can get out there,” adds another.
The business of trail cameras continues to increase as people capture footage from the wild that’s rarely seen. Earlier this year, PetaPixel reported on amazing footage of a tiny bobcat pouncing on a deer five times its size.