Saturday, September 13, 2008

Wild and Timid

Well, our little pond blog is most often about wild things and 'wild' happens to be the theme for this week's PhotoHunt. I have never posted any photo's of one of our predominant wild creatures that I am sure you are all familiar with. Many of us like to feel there is a bond between us and this creature. We feel a certain familiarity with them as though we can communicate with them and have them accept us into their world.

This photo was taken in the pasture adjacent to the pond just a few days ago. We were surprised this young deer still had such prominent spots. It was alone with no older deer to be seen anywhere nearby.

This year we have not seen nearly as many deer as we would normally see for some reason. And, oddly, many of the deer we see are younger ones. Of course we do occasionally see a single doe with her fawn, but we do not see many groups of 5-8 like we have in most years. I'm not sure why this is the case, but for now I am just considering it is a cyclical situation.

Each year the patterns change. Some years we have 2-3 small groups that pass through at various times during the day. Other years there will be larger groups that we see on a daily basis. It seems as though they have a regular daily routine for each season.

Often this summer we have seen these two young deer below together, but we never see an adult with them. They appear to be several weeks apart in age as the one on the left is significantly larger. It is much more attentive, as you can tell in the photo, and seems to watch over the younger one.

Of course most deer are very cautious, but some (like with many wild animals) can become tolerant of humans to some degree when they realize that we mean them no harm. This particular deer was at the nearby lake which is within a short walk from the pond. It stayed around browsing for at least 20 minutes fully aware that I was only yards away.

We are hoping that this fall and winter we will see a return of larger groups. It's always fun to watch the young ones at play when it is easier to see them through the bare trees. And for some reason they often appear less timid during the winter.

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31 comments:

  1. Oh, incredible shots! Lucky! Come and visit and have a wonderful weekend. :D

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  2. Hello again. :)

    My university here in Australia had a deer park. But I think that's the only place I have seen them here.

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  3. I have yet to experience seeing these animals in the wild. Wonderful photos :)

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  4. What wonderful shots of those deer. It's not often you can get close to them. Happy weekend

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  5. Amazing!!!! Just absolutely awesome. I can almost hear the silence surrounding them as you watch.

    My wild is posted...the wildness of nature. Come see.
    Happy Hunting.

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  6. Amazing pictures! They seem to be checking you out as well :)

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  7. yr life is so interesting living in such a situation with wild life galore

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  8. A deer..always remind me of barbecue :)

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  9. Great deer shots. I really like the last one, you captured a great expression.

    Have a wonderful weekend!
    Amanda

    http://www.amandasweeklyzen.com/2008/09/photohunters-wild.html

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  10. Great shots of the deer. It must bring so much pleasure having so much wildlife close by. Great wild post.

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  11. AAAWWW How sweet baker. That is a wonderful shot.

    kel
    http://ladykli-goingonaphotohunt.blogspot.com/

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  12. Ah, Baker! I always enjoy the shots from around your pond. Such a variety! I love these...

    Stop by, won't you?
    http://flamingofotos.blogspot.com

    Cheers -- RJ

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  13. nice shot of the deer.

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  14. Great photos of the deer. It always amazes me to see those outsized ears!

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  15. OMG...Aren't those deers cute... :)

    http://crizcats.blogspot.com/

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  16. Such beautiful deer pics! The first one in particular is quite magical!

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  17. Perfect photos! My house backs up to a greenbelt and the deer love to come and eat my roses.

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  18. Those deer let you get pretty close Baker. Here they run fast. The real problem here is car vrs deer and people not watching out for deer. Our area has many accidents....

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  19. Great deer shots! I tried to get some of deer near my Dad's place in Phillips, WI this past summer - they were only about 20 yds from the house and NOT afraid by any of the noise my boys were making! But the light was very low and the shots are mostly fuzzy. I should have thought of them for today's photo hunt!

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  21. What great wild shots! I was wondering what you would choose...

    I've gotten to see deer on both sides of the country, and it is interesting how west coast deer are so much smaller than east coast deer! I've rarely seen young ones though!

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  22. I love deer - they are always tranquil.

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  23. So beautiful! We are starting to lose our deer here to some disease. So very, very sad.

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  24. Such beautiful creatures! Sometimes, if I open my front door slowly, I can stand on the deck and watch 1 or a small group grazing in the yard. Last month, I startled a small herd - about 8 or 10 - when I hurried out without looking first. I actually spoke to one a while back, trying to get him to move away from my roses, but he just glanced my way and went back to munching.

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  25. The photos were great and I love seeing deer. Not too far from us is a river with lots of tree growth on either side. Just before dusk you can often see dozens of them in the fields just past the trees. Some years they are a dark brown and others are lighter color. I often wonder if the dark color means a harsh winter. Less timid in the winter or just hungry enough to be braver?

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  26. What lovely deer shots today! I have one on mine but not as close as yours are!

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  27. Thanks to one and all for dropping by and commenting.

    Now for some replies to specific comments or questions:

    Social Frog - Yes, they check us out pretty closely, lol

    BengBeng and Carver - It can be interesting at times - I'm never sure what is going to turn up - Just last week I saw a wild turkey and a buck (deer) which I hardly ever see around.

    Michelle - We have quite a few of those car mishaps, too. We have to be very careful along certain stretchs of the roads around here.

    Claudia and SophieMae - Those deer can gobble up some fine plants, lol. I call some of my plants such as azaleas 'deerciduous' because they lose many of the lower leaves to deer in the winter.

    Colleen - I know what you mean. I've got lots to learn about taking deer photo's. It seems so often that it is a bit too dark and they are a bit too far away for a good shot.

    Beckie - You may be right about the color differences being related to the potential harshness of the coming winter - I'm just not sure on that - I have noticed our deer are a little more brown this summer it seems - And about them being less timid in winter - I think it may be partially due to the food issue but I think also that they feel a certain comfort level around here as there is no hunting nearby and during the winter they can see potential danger approaching from a further distance. Sometimes 6-8 will come up and bed down during the middle of the day within mere yards of my house. I can walk out and talk to them from the deck and they will just stay where they are and watch me without jumping up in alarm.

    Brine Queen - Actually our deer are relatively small compared to some. And speaking of young ones, there have been at least 5 times I have come across a very small young deer bedded down by its mother in the past few years. And I mean small. When they are all balled up hiding in the grass they are less than 1 1/2 times the size of a standard keyboard at most I would say. I'll try to get a photo of one taken last year and post it soon.

    Sandy - I'm sorry to hear about the disease problem in your area - It is unfortunate - Here it seems that deer populations generally rebound fairly fast from various pressures such as disease - I hope it will be the same for you

    Baker

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  28. Great photos Baker, I can't get this close to them here, probably scared due to all the hunting that goes on here.

    Never did like hunting, I had rather go nature hunting and get some photos like yours.

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