Monday, November 03, 2008

Huntin' season again

Here it is again, already. This time of year, the boy deer leave the herds and band together to hunt for girl deer, with the bigger, stronger boy deer getting the prettiest girls. Molly disappeared about a month ago; he was bigger than Shorty and either left to join the boys or otherwise left us. I hope he joined the big boys.

Last night the big girls and the babies came for dinner without Shorty, who's usually the first one in line, along with little Kelly. I happened to glance out the side window and saw this:

He doesn't look real, does he? I swear he looks like one of those fake deer that hunters put in their yards for target practice. He's been glimpsed by us before, but we never got a good look at him. I doubted that I'd actually seen him at all, just dreamed him.

But there he was, watching the girls eat. He walked carefully around the front yard, which made the girls very nervous. He didn't seem uncomfortable at all, but he wouldn't come up to eat with the rest of the group.

He stood behind the tree and sniffed the air.

Then the smallest of the babies followed him away from the herd. This baby is very skittish all the time, so I couldn't believe that she'd leave her mommy to follow this big unknown daddy deer. Her mommy was perturbed, but not perturbed enough to stop eating, just stamped and snorted a bit.



A bit later, Shorty and another male (one we haven't seen before) showed up.


I hope they all stay close by.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Betty said....

Those are really nice deer pictures....I hope that they all stay right in front of your house for the rest of hunting season. Got lots and lots of corn??

kathy b said...

Lovely post . THe big male was like the one in THE QUEEN. What a beauty.

kathy b said...

Lovely post . THe big male was like the one in THE QUEEN. What a beauty.

Debbie T said...

Wow, those are beautiful pics!!!

Jenny Girl said...

What beautiful pics. Very majestic animals.

rita said...

We buy about 100 pounds of corn a month. Not enough to nourish them, but enough to keep them fat and sassy--and nearby!

He really is a beauty. He is very majestic. And he's back tonight.

Anonymous said...

Betty said....

Three deer ran out in front of my car when I was on my way home this afternoon, in a residential neighborhood. Luckily, I had time to slam on the brakes. Poor deer. They've built so much in this area that the deer don't have anywhere safe to go any more. I wish I could take them all to your land!

rita said...

Borrow a truck and let's load 'em up!

Anonymous said...

Tom said

I spend too much on corn as it is. I can't wait to invite one to live in the kitchen (Freezer).

rita said...

Sorry, can't do that.

Anonymous said...

Betty said...

Much too cold in there for the pretty little deer.

rita said...

Yep, they wouldn't last long in that environment; maybe reindeer...