Published by Alice on February 5, 2010
in deer.
It snowed all week, with three storms in a row dropping foot after foot of powder. A few hours of rain between storms left a heavy blanket behind, and digging out was a major task. There was too much snow to be measured in inches. The piles in town were eight and ten feet tall, and a few neighbors on our county road have their windows blocked by snow that slid off the roof.
It wasn’t just people who were snowed in; the deer were immobilized too, and spent days sleeping in the tree wells.
Eight deer spent the day in a fairy circle around this pine,
and then I started seeing deer under more and more trees.
I couldn’t count how many deer were lying down here, so I called out
and all four stood up.
There were four under this tree,
and my favorite mom with two yearlings spent all day dozing under a tree near my office.
Dear little deer.
Published by Alice on January 20, 2010
in deer.
Here’s the moment between standing and lying down: the deer kneels first
and then settles.
I took those photos Sunday, and it started snowing Monday. It has been snowing ever since, and is forecast to continue through Friday.
Bob manages the driveway, and Sam used to do the shovelling. Without a teenager in the house, I have to clear my own path to the barn.
Day by day the storm drops more snow, and each day that path gets narrower. I miss Sam, it’s true, but at times like this I miss teen labor even more.
Published by Alice on December 22, 2009
in deer.
I thought it was pretty cute when the broke-leg deer came to investigate the birdfeeder.
He is the deer who is the least afraid of me (I thought he’d be the only garden visitor)
and I like his calm contemplation of me and my camera. We are both aware that he’s much stronger than I am, and he likes that.
He can’t figure out how to get seed out of the feeder,
but he just loves the big things left on top of the snow for the magpies and jays.
He loves the birdfood, I’m fond of him…
we definitely had a moment there.
But it wasn’t a private moment. There was an old buck looking on, trying to figure out how he was going to get some of that stuff for himself, and the next day
the doe brought by one of her kids. You just trim the aspen while I work on the feeder, she said.
Sometimes it’s hard to get it started, she explained,
but once the seed gets flowing it’s the best.
And that was the end of the birdfeeder in the garden.
Published by Alice on December 8, 2009
in deer.
We got well over two feet of snow in less than a day.
The snow isn’t so deep under the trees, and
my favorite little herd came to eat the fresh pine fronds knocked down by the snow.
Mom checked the yearlings as she left the forest edge.
You kids be careful, she said,
and then she broke the trail.
Published by Alice on November 16, 2009
in deer.
I’m feeling fondly towards the deer with the broken leg. He isn’t afraid of me, and gets closer than the other deer.
He’s eating tansy here,
and seems to like it. After sampling the flowers,
he dug himself a small hollow under the tree and lay down for an hour or so.
At dusk, the doe and yearlings he herds with settled down in the same spot…
Feels like home, she said.
Published by Alice on October 28, 2009
in deer.
Our reliance on modern medicine is so complete that when we see a wounded animal, we assume it will die. But it wasn’t so long ago that the healing power of nature–vis medicatrix naturae–was well respected.
I took this photograph of a deer with a broken leg at the end of April. There are plenty of predators around here, so I assumed this guy would be dead by summer.
Instead of dying, this injured deer got big and strong in the high mountain pastures this summer (thanks to vis medicatrix naturae).
Look who came back this fall! I wouldn’t have recognized him except for the leg. Massive chest, sleek coat, fat and ready for winter.
He’s happily ensconced in a small herd, and his leg isn’t pretty, but it’s sound.
He puts his full weight on it. He has a limp but it’s not profound, and he runs as fast as the other deer.
He probably injured his left antler when it was in velvet, leaving a little three-pronged spike. I doubt a hunter would take a buck with such a lopsided rack, so he’s probably safe this fall.
Rutting season is coming up, and he could get lucky this year or the next.
And if you suggested to him that he should have been put out of his misery last spring, he’d kick your butt.
Published by Alice on October 6, 2009
in deer.
Last winter a wildlife biologist came by to see the tolerant bucks who wintered here, and pointed out that deer in this region are short of minerals. I’d be doing them a real favor if I got them a salt lick, he said. He also said that adding some calories to the landscape in deep winter isn’t feeding (which is illegal); it’s giving the females a nutritional boost that allows them to deliver healthy fawns.
The deer came down from the mountains a few days ago, so I got them a mineral block. It cost $5.75, it weighs 44 lbs, and I’m going to be really popular.
Except at home. The dog and I agree about the deer, but Bob does not.
You’re not feeding the deer, said Bob.
I’m not feeding the deer, I said. I got them a mineral block. It’s a photo prop.
(They’re gonna love it.)
Published by Alice on October 5, 2009
in deer.
There are still a few stray cattle hanging around, and the owner is slow to pick them up because there’s plenty of graze for them here. (Graze is a verb in some parts of the country, but here it’s both verb and noun.)
Here’s a cow lying down under an apple tree. The cold drove the cattle down from their high summer pasture,
and the deer are back too.
They’re not used to me yet, and ran up the hill as soon as they saw me.
They’re coy for now, but not for long.
Published by Alice on September 8, 2009
in deer.
I haven’t caught a glimpse of the mountain lion, but neighbors up and down the road have seen it and called to alert us. He’s here, and he’s big.
Crows were cawing out back this morning, so I went to see why. It was a scene right out of The Godfather: some creature dropped a deer head on the lawn last night, and the crows were feasting on it.
This head could have been left by a coyote or bear, but I think it has lion written all over it (except for those eye sockets, which look like crow’s work to me).
(Posts like this make me want to become a fruitarian.)
Published by Alice on September 1, 2009
in deer.
Growing antlers are covered with a fur that encases a network of blood vessels and nerve endings.
The blood vessels provide the nutrients to grow the antlers, while the nerve endings mean that I shouldn’t be alarmed by this mule deer’s rack. Antlers in velvet are sensitive and easily damaged, and the deer will do whatever he can to avoid hurting them.
Once the antlers are grown, they harden up and deer rubs off the velvet.
According to Wikipedia, velvet antler is a “mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine. To my surprise, velvet antler does not refer to the velvety “skin” on growing antlers, but to the whole cartilagious antler in a pre-calcified stage. Like shark fin, another cartilagenous body part, you have to kill the animal to harvest the antlers. They are typically cut off near the base after reaching about two-thirds of its potential size, before any significant calcification occurs. The antlers are dried and used as a powder or tea for a wide variety of health remedy and health maintenance purposes.
In China, velvet antler is valued as an anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, immune stimulant, and pro-growth agent. In Durango, these velvet antlered deer are valued as apple-eaters. Note to deer in China: you’re welcome anytime; sorry we can’t help with transportation.
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