Fawns, reunited!

Back on May 22, I glanced into the front garden and lo and behold, a tiny face was peeking at me from the plants. A few day old White-tailed Deer fawn! This is an annual event around here but one I never tire of. My yard, because of its abundant plant life, is used as a fawnery by local does.

A young fawn stands in my neighbor's much more neatly manicured backyard yesterday. This may well be the one in the previous photo.

I've seen this fawn (or perhaps another) a few times over the last week or so, with the doe.

The fawn nurses. Fawns as young as this tend to stay in close proximity to mom, although by now they are very curious about the world around them, although still intimidated by new things.

As I watched from an upstairs window, out came the other fawn! Well, I did not know there was another, for sure, until this moment but does often do have two offspring. I was able to run downstairs, grab a camera, dash out and peek around the corner of the garage for some unobstructed photos. The doe still made me and stared bullets at the big round lens (she couldn't see me).

The youngsters remained oblivious and cavorted about. Fawns are very playful and often filled with the "zoomies". They'll run at and chase one another like romping puppies. It's hard not to like and appreciate a fawn.

For the first few weeks of life, the doe keeps the fawns (if she has two) in separate locales. They may not be very far apart, but they won't be together. After two weeks or so, she reunites them (they were born together). I'd say this was one of their first days back together, if not the first.

Another fawn, spawned in the yard

A very young White-tailed Deer fawn peeks at your narrator from the cover of my front yard garden. I went out to get the mail a few days ago and saw some speckles in the plants just a few feet off the front porch. The little deer is probably only a few days old in this image. A few days later, I glanced out back and the fawn was capering around like a kitten with the zoomies, while the doe kept a close eye on he/her.

Fawns, like THIS ONE, have been born in my yard every year I've been here. That's probably a testimony to the comparative wildness of my property, in contrast to most of my neighbors. I have no problem with suburban deer like these, and I think they know it. Thus, my property is a welcome haven. Many gardeners, somewhat selfishly one might argue, protest the ungulates' depredations of their various garden plants, most of which are nonnative Eurasian species. In other words, we have displaced tons of valuable native habitat to create our neighborhoods, largely replaced the once rich native flora with mostly alien species, and then rise up against the native animals that dare to try and eke out a living in this strange new world.

Have at it, deer, say I.

Big bucks hit the backyard

I was pleased to glance into the backyard this morning and see this big buck. White-tailed Deer are regular visitors here, and I don't mind. Fawns have even been born in the yard, such as THIS ONE.

Thus, I was even more pleased when the buck's twin brother materialized from a thicket. The two fed for a while, then it was siesta time. They are out there napping as I write this. They're likely to stay all day, and that's fine with me. Help yourself to some of the remnant day lilies, boys.

Backyard fawn, again!

Last year, I wrote about a White-tailed Deer fawn that I found in my backyard on May 23, shortly after its birth. You can see that post HERE, and two follow-up posts HERE and HERE.

Here we go again. I looked out into the back yard this morning, and there was this. The fawn had to have been born in the last 24 hours. It's tiny, and still has trouble walking. The doe is quite attentive and stays nearby. This scene is 15 feet from my sunroom windows, and probably the most sheltered part of the yard. It's the same area where last year's doe (same one?) spent much time with her infants.

A brief video of the newborn fawn in my backyard. It is just learning to walk, and is pretty gawky and uncoordinated. That will change fast. But now, it's amusing to watch the fawn get a burst of excitement, break into a clumsy gallop, get about eight feet, and lose all synchronicity between its legs and fall down. It then just lays there and dozes off. You can get a taste of that uncoordinated clumsiness in this video. Sorry for the poor quality - I was handholding and trying to stay out of sight of the doe. That lens isn't made for video, apparently, and clicks a bit. But if you listen carefully, you can hear the fawn bleat a few times.

If this goes like last year, they'll be a staple in the backyard. And in a few weeks, if she was successful in having a pair, she'll bring the other fawn into the yard and then there will be three.

A buck, in prairie grasses

 

A young buck White-tailed Deer observes the photographer from across a restored prairie meadow. His pelage beautifully matches the autumnal coloration of the Indian Grass. I shot him (with pixels) yesterday morning at Glacier Ridge Metro Park in Union County, Ohio. To temporarily get his undivided attention, I snort-huffed like another buck. Not only did that make him look my way, it also drew him about 50 feet closer. But he quickly forgot about me, and continued his meanders through the prairie, perhaps following the scent cues of a doe.

Big backyard buck!

 

I glanced into the backyard "refuge" a few days ago only to see this stud. He was eating my beauty-berry plants. He may be the father of the two fawns that frequent my yard, and he may be looking to hook up with the doe again. Fine by me, as is his consumption of my backyard flora. He vaulted that fence as effortlessly as we'd step over a curb. I wrote about the fawns - at least one of them, a second appeared later - RIGHT HERE, and HERE.

White-tailed deer fawn, at 24 days

This fawn was born in my backyard on or very near May 23, so it's around 24 days at this point. This photo is from this morning. The doe brings it in frequently. They enjoy noshing on the day lilies, which is just fine by me.

It's been fun to watch the rapid development of this young deer. HERE IS a post from the day I found it, when the fawn was newly born and helpless. THIS POST is from the day after I found the fawn, and he/she is already walking, albeit clumsily and in very short bursts.

To cater to the little fellow, I had let the back half of the backyard grow into a bit of jungle. Lest the neighbors sic the city on me, I finally mowed it all down a few days ago. Not a problem, the deer seem to be doing just fine.

White-tailed Deer fawn, Part II

Yesterday I posted about a newly born white-tailed deer fawn that I found in the backyard. Apparently my yard served as a deer nursery. When I found it, the fawn was absolutely tiny and remained motionless and curled up in deep grass, as newborn deer do.

That phase doesn't last long.

I was out photographing a very rare plant early this morning, and returned about 10 am. The doe had moved the fawn about 20 feet, to a more sheltered nook. She kept in close proximity to the fawn, and would occasionally sneak about to peek at the neighbors' activities from behind shrubs. Other times, she would rest on the ground near the fawn.

Later, I got into a few hour work jag at the computer, and finally got up to have a look out back. To my surprise, the doe had brought the fawn right up by the house, to an even more shaded and densely vegetated area that's even safer.

The little one is now walking, albeit somewhat clumsily. It's small enough to walk underneath mom, and also regularly nurses from her. As anyone who knows deer knows, the animals are hyper-vigilant. If I make any sort of movement near a window, she's on me right away. But my presence doesn't seem to bother her much, and doesn't cause her to back off.

The fawn can hardly contain itself, and makes little frisks around the immediate area of the doe. The youngster looks back over its shoulder here, to make sure where the mother is. The fawn need not worry. Momma doe keeps very close tabs on it.

The doe hasn't yet got much stamina, and after a bit of adventuring will plop down for a rest. For longer naps, it retreats into deeper vegetation such as where I originally found it.

I don't know how long this all will go on, but I'll have fun observing while it does.

White-tailed Deer fawn

An unexpected treat! A white-tailed deer fawn, very recently born. It was in the back part of the back yard, which is very wild, especially compared to my neighbors. I was Facetiming my mom this afternoon, who is in a retirement village, and I always walk around the yard to show her various flora and fauna. This time, I went back to show her an active house wren nest box, glanced down and there was the fawn. Went back to get a telephoto lens, was able to stand on a distant bench and get a few shots of the little fella. It never flinched, and I suspect mom was hidden in the massive dense forsythia bush in the corner of the yard. I had noticed a doe back in that part of the yard for several hours this morning, but didn't think much of it as deer are regular visitors. 

I suspect she dropped the fawn last night or early this morning - or some time very recently. But it'll not be long until it's trying to scamper about on gangly legs. I've had great experiences with fawns over the years, including a couple times when tiny fawns ran right up to my leg. I suspect they thought I was an adult deer. Once they saw the error of their ways, they quickly scuttled back off into the vegetation. But this is the best photo op I've had with one, and its beautiful pelage contrasts wonderfully with the rich green grass.  This little deer could not be in a safer part of the neighborhood.

White-tailed Deer, on a tear

Not far from me is a wonderful metropark known as Glacier Ridge. For years, I rarely went there - maybe a stop once or twice a year. As I've become more acquainted with the place's little wildlife honey holes, I've been going more regularly, though.

Such was the case yesterday morning. I only had the morning to go shooting (with camera), so after a thorough shoot of some nearby waterfalls, it was off to Glacier Ridge. There is a field at the park's north end that is usually full of bluebirds and other songbirds, and the light is great in the early hours.

Not this day, though. The meadow was largely silent, and I thought about just packing it in. But I wanted to stay out a bit longer, so I slung the camera rig over my shoulder and struck out on a well-used deer trail. Before long, I flushed a gorgeous Coyote with lots of rufous highlights. The wary animal spotted me long before I was in camera range, and trotted out of the meadow into a vast recently mowed field. The beast casually trotted across the field, occasionally stopping to stare back at me.

This gave me hope that a White-tailed Deer might do the same. The chances were decent that I would flush one off its bed in thick cover, and if it followed the Coyote's lead and ran into the mowed field, I might be able to snag some action shots.

Shortly thereafter, I heard a rustle and looked ahead to see a large doe looking around warily in dense cover. She'd picked up on me, but hadn't yet spotted me. A few seconds later she did, and bolted for the open field. Unfortunately, there was tall vegetation between her and I, but it didn't take long to get into a semi-clear spot and drop the tripod.

Here, she shows her conspicuous white "flag tail"; the earmark of an alarmed deer at speed. We can also see her cleft hooves - a character of an ungulate (the "hooves" are really thickened keratin-based toe tips).

After her initial romp, she paused briefly to stare at me. Then, as if realizing how exposed she was, she really put on the speed and galloped towards a distant woods. White-tails at full whirl are impressive indeed. She punctuated her galloping with enormous, almost playful skyward leaps that were beyond impressive. In this shot, she is five or six feet off the ground.

In moments, she had reached distant cover and vanished. And I was quite glad that I decided to follow that deer trail.

Some encounters with mammals

A herd of Bison grazes the vast grassy plains of the Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio. Their captive herd seems to be expanding, and there were a number of bisonlets among the ranks, so reproduction must be going well. The scene offers a tiny snapshot of the days of yore, when countless thousands of Bison roamed the Great Plains.

Participate in the upcoming Chandlersville Christmas Bird Count on December 20, which covers the Wilds and surrounding areas, and you can marvel over the massive Bison, too. Details about the bird count are RIGHT HERE.

I have noticed that people have an inordinate interest in mammals, and most Homo sapiens will gawk at something like this huge Bison before casting their eyes to, say, a Winter Wren or Henslow's Sparrow. I think this tendency is hard-wired, as after all other mammals are closer to us on the evolutionary tree than other groups of organisms. Also, mammals - at least large ones - can mean one of two very important things: food, or danger. It is still in our nature to keep our eyes on them.

While we were watching those Bison from a distant perch, this proud eight-point buck White-tailed Deer was watching over his harem in another field. Suddenly a lesser buck appeared on the horizon, and this stud instantly went on alert. Notice how its fur is raised, much like an angry cat, and that snowy white flagtail is at full mast.

Apparently not intimidated by the larger buck's signs of aggression, the lesser buck (foreground) charged forth. But, Jr. Buck was chasing after a frisking doe, so perhaps he wasn't thinking too clearly. By the time it reached this fence, the bigger buck had also made its way to the fence, ready for an encounter. I was hoping one or the other would leap the fence and really mix it up, but that was not to be. Still, after a bit of snorting about they did ram antlers - HARD - right through the fence. The crack was clearly audible from our observation point some distance away.

While the Cervidian standoff depicted above was taking place, this gorgeous Coyote trotted into view. I saw a furtive movement from the corner of my eye as the wily one briskly trotted through high vegetation down a hillside and towards the deer. It was rather far, and I didn't think it knew of our presence. As if to disprove that notion, it stopped and turned to gave me a baleful glare, letting me know that yes, it did indeed know that the dumb biped was watching.

The Coyote kept a direct course towards the younger buck, which was on its side of the fence. The deer quickly became aware of the interloper, and began moving off. I was hoping for some sort of strange encounter, and stood ready to photo-document it, but nothing doing. I suspect the 'yote was just passing through - can't imagine it would have taken on a deer that size, but the scene made for great wildlife watching.

A Mink carries a giant half-eaten bullfrog. This one was a stroke of great luck. I was standing along a marsh at Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area in Wyandot County, photographing two Northern Shrikes mixing it up in a tall cottonwood tree. I had my camera mounted on a tripod, with the 500mm lens with 1.4 extender, making it a 700mm. Just as with that Coyote, a movement in the grasses caught my eye, and I looked over to see the Mink tearing across the dike.

Shrikes temporarily forgotten, I whirled the camera onto the Mink and began clicking away. It still apparently hadn't seen me and was loping right to my spot. Unfortunately, I was somewhat over-lensed given its close proximity, and only managed this one keeper shot. The mild haze in the foreground is due to some grass blades between me and it. The photo was shot at just about the same time that it saw me, and clicked into high gear. Like a supercharged furry slinky, it bounded into dense cattails never to be seen again.

White-tailed Deer bucks

This is an oft-viewed vista at the Wilds - the landscape as seen from the birding platform at Jeffrey Point. I was exploring the 10,000 acres of this massive reclaimed strip mine area last Saturday as part of the Chandlersville Christmas Bird Count. Towards day's end, a few hardy teams went to favored Short-eared Owl hunting meadows to tally these strange birds. Chilly and windy as this spot may be, I was not disappointed - five owls were hunting the grasslands before me, at times so close that I could hear their curious terrierlike barks.

Owls weren't the only thing in view...

White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, abound within the Wilds, and it's not uncommon to sizeable herds of the beasts grazing in the fields. There are always some good-looking bucks sprinkled in, such as the fellow above. While he's a fine-looking specimen, the animal probably isn't much above average size, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 lbs. That's a far cry from the heaviest specimen on record, which was shot by Carl Lenander in Minnesota in 1926. The brute weighed in at 402 pounds, field dressed, and it was estimated to have been about 511 pounds when alive.

I never tire of looking at deer, especially bucks with racks. Judging by the condition of the base of this one's antlers, I'd say he'll soon shed them. Bucks lose their antlers every winter, and begin to regrow a new rack in spring. Many people enjoy searching for the "sheds", but it can take a lot of time and footwork to luck into some.

If you want to explore the Wilds firsthand with experienced guides, the Ohio Ornithological Society hosts their 9th annual Wilds Winter Raptor Extravaganza on January 19th. Participants should see some interesting birds - we had the old reliable Golden Eagle last Saturday, and numerous Northern Harriers and Rough-legged Hawks of both color morphs, among many other species. All the details ARE HERE.

Big bucks and big racks

Last Sunday, Bernie Master and I were patrolling the expansive Green Lawn Cemetery on the south side of Columbus, Ohio, tallying birds for the local Christmas Bird Count. Suddenly a bonus trotted into view - these three buck white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus. They were accompanied by five anterless deer, does apparently.

These two were the studs, without doubt. Anytime the antlers (rack) flares outward beyond the ears, the animal will look impressive. By my reckoning, both of these beasts are 10-point deer. The terminus of each antler branch, or tine, counts as a point and in the eastern U.S. the custom is to add all of the points up for the point score. In the west, they typically count only one side, so on the other side of the Mississippi these would be five-pointers.

Eight of the points are obvious (the small central brow tines count). Look closely and you'll see a small spur tine on the forward right beam of the deer on the left side of the photo. Both of the big bucks had these small spurs on both of their beams, and by Boone & Crocket rules a tine must be at least one inch to qualify as a point. By my eyeball reckoning, they were, thus the animals are ten-pointers.

A big white-tail buck can go 250 pounds or more, and I'd say these two were in that range. You can see a lesser male in the backdrop, peeking between the studs. I'm sure many a hunter would dearly love to harvest one of these animals, but these deer are completely off limits within the confines of the 360-acre cemetery.

Fawn

While doing a bit of exploring the other day, I heard a slight rustle in the shrubbery and out stepped this gorgeous young White-tailed Deer fawn. I froze, and she eyed me curiously, no doubt wondering who the big galoot was. The little deerlet didn't act very afraid, though, and often these little ones don't yet have a well-developed fear of man.

On a few occasions I have had very young white-tails run right up to me in the woods - literally to within a foot. The only thing that I could figure is that I was temporarily mistaken for mom. They quickly realized their error, and dashed back into cover.

I am guessing the unit above is perhaps 4-6 weeks old. It was still tiny and heavily bespeckled but beyond the stage where mom stashes them in thick vegetation for hours on end while she goes off to browse. That speckling makes for great disruptive patterning, really helping the fawn to blend with a forest understory irregularly lit by dappled sunlight.

I figured the doe was close at hand, and sure enough, I soon saw her peeking from the foliage. Some unheard command from her to Jr. was soon issued, and off they dashed into the woods.