Funny Animals

A Turtle Wanders Into a Nara Deer Nap Spot — They Do Not Take It Well

Curious young does investigate a wandering turtle, then scatter in full panic the instant it moves.

· 4 min · Togetter

What's going on

In Nara, Japan, deer have wandered freely among people for centuries — grazing in public parks, napping on temple grounds, and generally behaving as though the city belongs to them. They're famously unbothered: tourists, vending machines, bowing strangers offering rice crackers. Almost nothing fazes them.

But apparently, turtles are different. When a red-eared slider wandered out of Sarusawa Pond and into a deer resting area near Kofuku-ji temple, a cluster of young does came over to investigate — ears forward, noses working. Then the turtle moved. The reaction was immediate and catastrophic.

The photographer caught multiple clips: the initial stampede, the turtle actively approaching the retreating deer, and a lone doe timidly shadowing the turtle from a careful distance. A white wagtail also briefly crosses the frame, entirely indifferent to all of it.

Comments

Some deer were just chilling when a turtle showed up out of nowhere. They all gathered around like “what the heck is this thing” — sniffing, staring — and then the turtle moved, and they bolted like the world was ending. Adorable.
It actually looks like the turtle is the one approaching the deer, not the other way around — and the deer just keep backing off. Maybe turtles are some kind of rare encounter for them?
One deer is timidly trailing the turtle at a safe distance. A white wagtail (a small songbird common across Japan, often seen bobbing its tail near water) cruises through the frame completely unbothered.
“Oh? What’s this? sniff sniff … GYAAAH!!” 😂
“What’s this? … Just a smelly rock I guess… Yeah, total stinker… Like really gross… WAAAUGH!! IT MOVED!! … Still smells though, honestly…”
The deer 🫎: “AAAAAAAAAAAAH IT MOOOOOOOOOOVED!!!!!”
The deer sitting in the back is just… completely unbothered. Blank expression.
The deer in the distance has this total “eh, stuff happens” look on its face and it’s the cutest thing lol
I love both deer AND turtles so this is genuinely everything to me
I just want to watch peaceful stuff like this forever ( ᎔˘꒳˘᎔)
They freaked out way harder than I expected lmao 🌱
The Beginning of the Deer Dance.
“Shishishishi — it’s the beginning of the deer dance!” That’s literally a Kenji Miyazawa title. (Miyazawa was a beloved early 20th-century poet and author; “The Beginning of the Deer Dance” is one of his most famous short stories.) Wait, this is literally that.
四面楚鹿.

A play on the Chinese idiom 四面楚歌 (shimensoka, “songs of Chu on all four sides”) — meaning “completely surrounded with no allies.” Here, 歌 (ka, “song”) is swapped for 鹿 (shika, “deer”), giving you: surrounded by deer on all four sides.

The turtle is just out here doing its own thing with absolute zero awareness of the chaos it caused lol
It’s an Aka-pippi-mishimishi-game! (A playful mashup of アカミミガメ, the Japanese name for the red-eared slider.)
Both the deer and the red-eared slider are adorable 😂
Deer hanging around Sarusawa Pond (an ornamental pond near Kofuku-ji temple in Nara) is totally normal, but apparently a turtle making its way from the pond all the way into the park is quite rare 🤔
Two sacred creatures meeting. (Both deer and turtles have been revered as divine messengers in Japanese tradition.) Maybe the turtle is out hunting for a place to lay eggs?
Why is there a turtle here lmao — looking for shade maybe? The young deer are SO into this.
The ones crowding around are all young does, which explains the curiosity. The stag watching from a distance in the background is giving some real energy lol
From the deer’s perspective, “something we thought was part of the ground… just activated?!” — honestly that’s a completely valid horror response.
I mean, if you were staring at what you thought was a rock or a tree stump and it suddenly started moving, you’d freak out too. Can’t blame them.
Meanwhile these same deer don’t even flinch at cars. Make it make sense.
Me in my room at night, touching something I thought was trash, and it moved — and it was a cockroach.

My take

Such a wonderfully peaceful little scene — really warms the soul. It's funny how deer and humans have the same exact reaction when something unexpected suddenly moves: pure, unfiltered panic.

Comments loosely translated for tone.

Source https://togetter.com/li/2701337