New Fawn

I see Whitetail Deer fawns every year, but I usually don’t find them when they are this small.  This one can’t be more than a few days old.

The doe left her fawn in an area of high grass in the lawn.  This is one of those areas that I don’t mow regularly.  About two weeks ago I cut the tall growth, raked it up and used it as mulch in the vegetable garden.  There’s not much cover, but it was enough to hide the fawn from a distance.

The fawn has no defenses and relies on camouflage to avoid predation.  Any movement would reveal its presence, so it remains perfectly still.

The color and pattern of the fawn normally blends well with the surrounding vegetation.  The combination doesn’t work as well when the fawn is surrounded by a mixture of exotic lawn and farm grasses.

The fawn’s only visible sign of awareness of my approach was a slow dropping of the eye lids.  That makes sense since the highly reflective eye would be quite a visible attractant.

The fawn was about the size of a small house cat.  There was no really good object to use as a size reference, so I held my open hand about an inch above the fawn’s body.  I could have covered the entire animal with both hands.  I’m sure I’ll see a lot more of this guy before summer is over.

A Camera Critters submission.

Buck, Doe and This Year's Fawns

Late October through November is the peak breeding season for Whitetail Deer and gray, drizzly days are ideal for viewing bucks in pursuit of receptive does. I should say that this type of day is ideal only in the sense that the normally shy bucks are much more likely to come out in the open on a gloomy day. Unfortunately, the low light conditions are not the best for capturing clear images of the deer. When I saw this guy wandering past the window, I knew instantly what he was after.

He’s so focused on a nearby doe that he doesn’t even notice me at the window.

Their rendezvous occurs in the White Pine windbreak.

The fawns are content to feed on white clover in the lawn. Their spots have disappeared, but they still have the youthful appearance of fawns.

A commotion in the pine trees causes them to lose interest in the clover. They seem torn between a need to run and a desire to seek the safety of their mother.

The doe finally leaves the pines and enters the yard to feed. The buck has left some disheveled hair as evidence of their encounter. The doe’s leg has been unusable for months and I doubt that conditions will improve. She does a fair job of getting around and is obviously still desirable to the gentlemen, but she’s beginning to display a gaunt appearance. I don’t expect her to make it through the winter. It would be truly amazing to see her back next spring with another set of twins.

One fawn, still at alert from scary happenings in the pine trees, runs to Mama for comfort.

This seems a good time for one of those facts of life discussions.

A Camera Critters submission.

Doe and Triplets

The Whitetail Deer triplets have been regular visitors to the yard. Yesterday, I saw their mother join them for a bit of cracked corn.

The doe has suffered an injury and is not using her left foreleg. I usually see one or two deer each year in this condition.

There seems to be quite a bit of swelling just above the hoof and there’s a jagged cut on the inside of her right hind leg. A lot of deer leg injuries are the result of an entanglement with a fence. Fences topped with a strand of barb wire are particularly hazardous. She seems a little thin, but that could just be from the stress of raising three fawns.

The doe took off as soon as she caught sight of me. The fawns are watching her head into the field. They’re lucky she wasn’t running from approaching danger because none of them are looking in the direction from which danger would approach.

The triplets are becoming more independent, but as mom fades from sight across the field, they begin to follow.

This one didn’t seem much concerned. It stayed behind and ate a little more corn before heading off to find the rest of the family.

Fawns

My yard seems to be filled with Whitetail Deer fawns. This is the first time I’ve seen these triplets in the yard without their mother.

A doe has to be in prime condition to raise three youngsters. These guys look like they’ve been extremely well cared for.

I kept expecting the doe to show herself and judging by the way the fawns kept looking around, they might have been expecting the same thing. She was looking a little thin the last time I saw her, but she was still healthy. I doubt that she’ll be in shape for triplets again next year.

Besides these triplets, there are two sets of twins that also spend a lot of time near the yard. If this reproductive rate is typical of the other does in the area, the deer population could be doubled over last year. I hate to think what this will do to the Blue Jay Barrens plants.

I’ve been spotted. One fawn has headed for the field and a second has just noticed me. Looks like the photo shoot is about to come to an end.

There they go, moving so fast they ran out of frame.

A Camera Critters submission.

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.

Fawn

While walking yesterday evening, I came across this doe on one of the trails. When I first saw her, she had her head down and appeared to be licking something on the ground. As I got closer, she ran on down the trail and a small fawn crept slowly into the tall grass.

The fawn froze in mid step as I approached. Then it very slowly began to lower itself into the grass.

Judging from its size, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days old.

Once lowered completely to the ground it was so still you couldn’t even see it breathing. The rust color with light spots makes it look very much like a patch of sunlight coming through the trees.

The doe circled and kept a close eye on me while I was close to the fawn. After hoof stomping and snorting failed to move me away, she just stood quietly and waited for me to go. Once I walked away, she came back to check the fawn then went off into the trees. It’s not unusual to see does with fawns during the summer. What’s unusual is to see a doe with only one fawn.