It is the season ~ deer games are on! The fawns are big enough now that the does can let them all play together. And, they do. They run and jump and have a heck of a time! The little squirts can really run now too. They are quite a pleasure to watch out there. Even the does get in on the action. This morning, there were several does running around in the rain ~ and, I mean really all out running and jumping. Soon, they were breathing hard and their tongues were hanging out. I guess it keeps them in shape for when they really need to be able to do that. The wolves and bears don't go away.
Here is one from this morning ~ a gray, rainy morning. The deer are quite inspired out there. The yearling buck showed up and is just standing there watching the action. His mom is Shadow's oldest surviving daughter. So, he's one of the gang. Now that the fawns are bigger, they aren't having an issue with him being around. When the fawns are little, early on in their first couple of weeks of life, the does don't tolerate much of anything out of anybody!
This is another one from yesterday when things were settling down just a bit after some serious playtime had been had. The average is 7 fawns out here at one time. I'm still not sure exactly how many we had early on. The does have lost a few to the predators. Shadow is down to only one. She had twins. Miz Spectacles still has all 3 of her triplets. Many still have their twins. But, with the family units coming together and not always bringing their fawns ~ Shadow's family alone has quite a few ~ it makes it hard to know how many we really still have.
Here's another from yesterday. I had walked out to try and photograph some of them after they were done running around quite so fast! Cloudy and foggy ~ not the best light for fast action shots. I was taking some candids out there ~ just walking around. They usually have to quit what they are doing and watch what I might be doing instead.
I do love having my deer friends around. They sure can bring quite a source of amusement into our life. You never know what antics you will be seeing on any given day.
You have just gotten a small glimpse of my daily life with the deer!
