What About Those Deer?

Nothing seems to elicit ooh’s and aah’s from hikers as much as a chance encounter with a Whitetail Deer.  I used to react that way 30 years ago.  Now, when I can’t seem to walk anywhere without seeing deer, they tend to lose their allure. 

I’ve begun to think of deer in the same way that urban dwellers often view rats.  If you see one during the day, there are a dozen hidden away that you won’t see until the sun goes down.  Wait for that period between sunset and dark and you’re likely to find deer coming out from everywhere.

This photo, taken near dark through my dining room window, shows 22 deer browsing in the field behind the house.  I’m still debating how the increasing deer population will factor into my management decisions.  I manage Blue Jay Barrens in an attempt to create healthy native plant and animal communities with an emphasis on developing populations of rare and unusual species.  A major component of management is the identification of variables that affect achievement of the desired goals.  Deer are a variable that will definitely influence the nature of the plant populations.  Will their actions work against my achieving the desired management goals and what can be done about it if they do?

Signs of deer activity are easy to spot.  Deer trails are showing up everywhere.

The trails through the tall grasses are so numerous that it’s almost like following a maze.

With the trails comes soil disturbance.  Disturbed soil is necessary for the colonization of many plant species.  This is good when those species are natives.  Unfortunately, aggressive non-native invasives thrive in these situations and can use these trails to infiltrate native stands.

Deer seem to feed on just about any plant.  Their constant browsing often shapes the growth pattern of woody shrubs.  Patches of Late Low Blueberry, Vaccinium pallidum, all display a flat top appearance due to constant browsing.

The pruning causes an increase in stem development like that found in a well groomed hedge. 

Due to a profusion of buds along the stem, deer browsing does not typically kill woody plants.  Buds just below the browse point are ready to take over as leaders and regrow what was lost.

Deer tend to favor certain plant species.  As the deer population increases, less desirable plant species begin to show signs of deer browsing.

Yucca, a non-native plant in this area, has leaves tougher than anything else in the landscape.  This is the first year I’ve noticed them being eaten by deer.  If the deer would concentrate their efforts on non-native species, I wouldn’t be questioning their desirability at Blue Jay Barrens.

Deer are certainly doing their part to recycle plant material back through the soil ecosystem.  The question is whether those droppings come from plants adapted to surviving continual browsing or rarities such as the orchids that suffer greatly from an annual pruning.  It will certainly be interesting to see what changes the deer bring to the landscape during the next decade.

Walking the Indian Grass Field

I took a walk in the field just to enjoy the tall Indian Grass stalks.  During the next few months the dried stalks will disappear as their bases decompose and the dead grass falls to the ground.  Once they are down, the stalks quickly decompose and provide nutrients for new growth.  The transformation from dead growth to living is an unobtrusive process that leaves you wondering where all of that dead material went.

Despite a regular schedule of rain and wind storms, the Indian Grass has remained upright all winter.  A cold wind, combined with grass talks whipping my face, makes the walk a little less comfortable.  That turbulence is just a surface event.  Down in the grass, the wind remains calm and the environment is much more comfortable.

A small cedar hidden in the tall grass has been a roost site for some small bird.  The Indian Grass fields always contain a variety of birds.  Occasionally they’ll utilize a small shrub as a night time location, but more typically they’ll just find a convenient spot down in the grass.  I stopped taking nighttime walks through the Indian Grass long ago.  I felt bad about spooking the birds from their overnight roosts.

The most obvious sign of wildlife in the Indian Grass is the network of deer trails that criss-cross in all directions.  The deer create the trails, but all wandering wildlife species seem to utilize them.  Some trails have remained in place for several years, while others are created and abandoned seasonally.  They sometimes remind me of a county and township road system. 

Deer beds are located throughout the field.  These beds are located a little distance off the trails.  This is likely a strategy to avoid detection by predators that may find the trails to be a convenient way to travel the fields.  Most beds are located on the slopes or ridgetops where the ground is more likely to be dry.  A deer bedded down in the Indian Grass can avoid visual detection, be protected from the wind and benefit by the insulating ability of the grass stalks. 

So Many Deer - So Little Corn

As soon as snow began to cover the ground, the deer swarmed to the bird feeder looking for some bits of corn.  They reminded me of people mobbing the grocery store for bread and milk ahead of a snow storm. 

Just as you would expect from the pre-storm grocery crowd, there were some aggressive individuals in the mix.  This doe wanted corn, but didn’t want to share the table.

One by one she chased off the rest of the herd.

Eventually, she had the corn to herself.  Her chasing probably burned off more calories than she recovered from the corn.

Her companions huddled out of reach.  They acted like children, each encouraging the others to move forward to see if all is clear.

They finally retired to the field in search of more standard and substantial food items.

Unstressed Deer

The stress of winter is supposed to be one of the primary factors in reducing the deer population.  This winter has been so easy on the deer that I think they’re still putting on weight.

The doe with the injured leg is not only still alive; she’s lost that gaunt look of two months ago and appears as healthy as the rest.  At this rate, she’ll survive the winter and go on to have two or three fawns in the spring.

I’m beginning to wonder if she’s got some other worldly force helping her.  Those eyes definitely look possessed.

The Crows aren’t afraid, but they prefer not to have the deer facing them.

Apparently, it’s much safer to stay behind the deer.

The maturing fawns are still showing the cuteness of youth.

 

This youngster is already showing signs of his maleness.  Those bumps behind the eyes are the buds that will become antlers late next summer.

Deer

The deer now have their full coats and are ready for the cold of winter.  The question is whether or not we’re going to have cold weather this winter.  Our pattern of frequent rains and mild daytime temperatures seems to be holding strong.  That’s not to be taken as a complaint, just an observation.

They all look strong and healthy.  Their full fluffy coats look very well kept and there are no signs of gauntness or bare ribs.  It’s been a while since I’ve seen late December deer looking so fit.

Nighttime temperatures still dip below freezing and heavy frosts are a normal morning feature.  These deer are still carrying a coating of frost on their backs.  The deer hair provides such superb insulation that body heat won’t melt the frost and the deer don’t feel the chill. 

The twins are still traveling with their mother.  They are totally independent now and don’t look to her for guidance, but they’ll remain companions until next spring.

They come looking for cracked corn.  Each tiny bit must be picked up individually.  They can’t end up with more than a few kernels for their efforts.  Corn isn’t an ideal food for deer, but what they get here isn’t more than a little treat.  To remain healthy, they need to get out and consume the mixed browse to be found scattered across the fields and woods.

The twins may have declared independence, but they still exhibit some traits of young siblings.  There’s always that concern that your brother is getting a little more than his fair share.

Deer Sign

It wasn’t long ago that signs of Whitetail Deer activity would arouse a sense of awe and wonder. Deer in low numbers can blend almost invisibly into the landscape and lead their lives with little evidence of their presence. It would be nice if they would maintain that level of existence, so that each rare encounter produced a special memory and we could congratulate ourselves on our expert abilities to detect the subtle signs of their presence.

The reality is that deer are like any other creature and they will expand their population to the extreme limits of their habitat. The deer population in the vicinity of Blue Jay Barrens has been steadily increasing for several decades. I have concerns about how some deer activities will affect my management efforts. Some of the more visible signs, like the thrashing given this Autumn Olive shrub, don’t really concern me. It’s some of the more subtle influences that are generating potential long term problems.

Some people feel that I’m becoming too critical when I show concern over a deer’s hoofprint. This is a very common sight. Deer have created a trail down the hillside. A strip of ground has been compacted by the actions of the traveling deer, creating a long depression with a lot of bare ground. Flowing water follows these trails and deepens them through the process of erosion until a large gully is created. The trail shown here is relatively new. A sliding deer hoof has plowed soil and debris into a low dam that can divert the water from the trail onto a steep hillside to the right. The result could be a gully running down the hillside to the creek.

As part of their territorial marking activities, male deer paw and dig the soil to produce bare spots. Disturbed soil is a prime location for the germination of seed from invasive plant species. Canada Thistle, Johnson Grass, Teasel, Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose and Autumn Olive are a few of the common invaders that would thrive in this situation. Scattered throughout this disturbed soil are several Red Cedar fruits. Even though they are unlikely to sprout unless passed through a bird’s gut, they illustrate how seeds can fall into areas like this and easily become incorporated into the loose soil. I’ve eliminated more than one invasive plant infestation that began in sites just like this.

Some native plant species thrive in areas of soil disturbance and a few of those are here at Blue Jay Barrens. In general though, the deer scrapes that I encounter lead to invasive plant infestations, physical destruction of plants, soil erosion and soil compaction. The effect of an ever growing deer population on the management of rare plants at Blue Jay Barrens is an evolving story. I hope there’s a happy ending somewhere in the future.

Doe and Fawns

I’ve been seeing fawns everywhere this year. This pair and their mother have been hanging around the yard for a couple of weeks now. I enjoy watching them, but I can’t help thinking about all of the Blue Jay Barrens plants they’ll be eating later on.

Deer always look miserable in the summer. Ever wonder how Deer Flies got their name. I get annoyed when two or three flies start buzzing me. A hundred or more must be unbearable. Shaking a leg may cause a few flies to change position, but it doesn’t make them leave.

This doe got the hide scraped from her hind quarter four years ago. I remember seeing her soon after her accident. The wound was a shiny bright red and she walked with a slight limp. I don’t know how she got hurt. It does make it easy to identify her. Because of that distinctive scar, I know for sure that this is the fourth set of twins she has introduced to my yard since the mishap.

The fawns go off and do their own thing while mom eats. This one spent quite a while chasing crows around the yard.

The other twin had a go at eating some unripe apples. I thought he might be big enough to actually chew an apple, but that skill still seems to elude him. I’m sure both twins will master the apple eating art by summer’s end.

Mangled Ant Mound

A few ant mounds suffer damage each winter. Most of the time, it’s no more than some pecking by the Crows or a minor excavation by a skunk. This particular mound was half way demolished.

The only tracks are those of a deer. What was this deer after that made it work so hard to tear down the mound?

The deer scattered some of the dirt a long way out into the grass. Maybe it was after some type of mineral that was concentrated in this particular soil. I’ve not seen any of the other mounds attacked in this manner.

This wasn’t a case of gradual deterioration as a result of deer traffic passing close to the mound. There’s no evidence around the mound that a deer trail had ever passed near the area. This was a determined effort by the deer to accomplish something. The damage all occurred in a single night.

The ants are still in the ground and have not yet moved back up into the mound. I imagine that extensive damage done in late winter would have less of a negative impact on the ants than early winter damage. The mound has already done its job of protecting the wintering colony from the extreme winter cold. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes the colony to get the mound back into shape.