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Watch a deer and rabbit play like Bambi and Thumper in real life

Two unlikely animals made friends in small-town Colorado.

 

Dylan Love

Internet Culture

Posted on Aug 12, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 4:26 am CDT

Forget birds of a feather: Two woodland critters are bringing a Disney classic to life with their unlikely friendship.

Steve and Vicky Johnsen spotted the surreal scene not far from them: a deer and rabbit engaged in full-on cross-species play. The two animals bound around happily with each other, their optimistic gymnastics proof of an understanding that neither one is a threat to the other’s well-being.

The Johnsens sent footage of the scene to Colorado NBC affiliate KOAA News, which shared the impossibly happy video on its Facebook page. It no doubt calls to mind a real-life Bambi and Thumper, and indeed, that’s what the viral animal stars have been nicknamed by the Facebook commenters.

 

Disney

 

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The animal playmates still reportedly meet at the YMCA’s Lula W. Dorsey Museum in Estes Park, Colorado, every day. Here’s the video earning them their viral fame:

[Placeholder for http://www.facebook.com/KOAA/posts/10153625713293939 embed.]

Hopefully this version of Bambi is less traumatic for kids—and the deer.

H/T 9 News | Screengrab via KOAA/Facebook

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*First Published: Aug 12, 2015, 3:21 pm CDT