Carl Stephenson includes the scene with the pampas stag to emphasize how dangerous the ants are to any living creature. It also introduces the ants’ strategy of attacking the eyes to disable their prey. Leiningen knows he must protect his eyes while he runs to the dam. However, the main significance of the scene with the stag is that it is the source of Leiningen’s motivation to get up and save himself when he is almost overcome by the ants during the climax. Leiningen decides that he will not end up like the stag based on his memory of seeing it devoured in six minutes.