Monday, September 13, 2010

Losing Their Spots






The twins are becoming "Spotless"

We have been blessed by another visit , it is fun to see  what has been lurking just off the beaten path. There have been brief moments of exposure when the  babies became anxious due to thunderstorms or home invasion by the humankind. They would come sprinting pell-mell out from cover only to dart back to hide again. So, when the twins came meandering out in front of their mother it was time to take notice and digitally record the event for future reference.

The far fawn appears to have some antler buds and his color brings back memories of previous generations. Forefront fawn was on the move having a nibble of grass-the camera caught a candid moment with it's tongue sticking out.
Mom is getting her Fall color


Little fawn went to nudge his mother; mom moved so what appeared to be an attempt to nurse didn't happen.

I am truly impressed at the physical rebound the deer have made with the plentiful Summer grazing. Our winters have been brutal and nutritionally challenging the last couple of years. I will have to keep my eyes open for  smaller fawns too.  In the last couple years that there has been at least one extremely little fawn seen going into Fall and Winter. Certainly a wonder that it would be able to survive ,but I have watched them toddle along with the group, and found their hoof prints while out prowling around myself.

Sadie Sioux wasn't being hospitable, not wanting to share her space so she put that deer family on alert from her window post inside the house. It didn't take long for them to get the hint even though they weren't threatened directly.

In the evening I took my faithful shotgun rider to do some scouting and found a mature doe enjoying the bean field smorgasbord along a fence/treeline. You might be able to vaguely see the whitetail on alert headed in the opposite direction. ;)
My four pawed friend gets really excited when she sees Mom grabbing the camera - heading out the door in a hurry.She charges out in front alerting everything in our path.I can see right now that I will need to sneak off on my own to get any discreet deer sleuthing accomplished and teach Sadie to lower her voice in the presence of wildlife.

Good luck to all on your pre-season deer scouting...

6 comments:

Marian Ann Love said...

Great pictures cdgardens! I took a pic one time at the Christmas Place of a fawn suckling and got two pics and then she kicked it away. It was funny to see she was not in the mood anymore. Glad you got to see it also. Thanks for sharing and yes, I think you will have to sneak outside without Sadie to get more pics of deer. She will shoo them away for sure.

CDGardens said...

Thanks Marian! Yes, I remember your picture of the nursing fawn. I'm sure that the mom's are only trying to get the babies independent for the upcoming Fall/Winter when she starts her new family. (or becomes someones supper)

Sadie is such a smarty, she knows when I am going to go off and leave her. Yes, I will need to get away since I want to check the deer traffic. ;)

SimplyOutdoors said...

Those are some incredible pictures. Did you get the first deer pics with a trailcam, or where those taken with a regular cam.

It's good that Sadie is protective, though I'm sure it doesn't help when trying to capture deer on film.

CDGardens said...

SimplyOutdoors- Thanks! I had the opportunity to use a regular camera from inside my home to get the first pics.

I am thankful that Sadie lets us know when things aren't as they should be... ;)

The Hunter's Wife said...

Love the pictures. I had two fawns last year and haven't seen any this year. So fun to watch. How cute that Sadie wants to tag along. lol

CDGardens said...

The Hunter's Wife - Thank you...I hope next year you will get to watch the fawns race around and play tag again. They are very cute. Ah, Sadie what a kid - whoops! I guess that should be dog. ;)