Oh Deer!

 Every time we take a trip over to our Hundred Acre Woods, we see many deer.  Every time, I take my camera, and every time, the deer are way too fast for me to get a photo focussed and snapped.  Whitetail deer are lovely, lithe creatures.  They are tall, but oh, so graceful.  By the time we spot them in the woods, they have turned to run and all we can see is their bright white tail sticking up like a plume, dancing across the bramble as they run and jump over logs.  They are almost silent as they nimbly escape through the woods.

I am sure that if I just parked myself in the woods, quietly, for an entire day with camera in hand, I would have a much better chance of snapping a photo.  However, a trail camera is a much more efficient tool and the price is definitely worth a day of sitting still, waiting.

This past Saturday, we placed a trail camera on one of the upright posts of our platform tent in the woods. The tent sits in a clearing, at the edge of our Field of Dreams,  that is frequented by our deer population.  In the summertime, the naturalized patches of thick grass, thistle, honeysuckle, and milkweed are the perfect bedding areas for the deer population... offering a safe and secluded area in which to raise their young.  We often see fawns playing in the mowed pathways that criss-cross that field.  This area is a popular grazing area.


 In three days time we were rewarded with 1200 photos of one, two, three deer at a time.  Most of the photos were snapped in the twilight and nighttime hours, although a few brave souls walked through the area in the morning. 


 It's hunting season, and although we do not allow hunting in our woods, the deer are rather spooked at this time of year and prefer to remain hidden during the daylight hours.


The summer's fawns have grown considerably, but still remain with their mothers.


Surprisingly, none of the photos showed any bucks.  However, we have seen antlers on several of the deer that we have encountered on our trips to the woods.

Pennyslyvania's deer have been ravaged by a neurologic condition called chronic wasting disease -
 and though we have heard that there has been some cases within our county, we have not personally seen evidence of it here in our woods.  

Our deer are lucky in that they have lots of habitat still remaining in our area.  Food is plentiful with acorns and beechnuts from the surrounding woodlands.   This is not the case in urban and suburban areas, where the deer have had to learn to live amongst humans.  

Sharing our woods with these beautiful creatures is yet another of the many things that I love about life in the country.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love white tail deer!!
daisy g said…
So grateful they have a safe haven.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
meanwhile, we have deer casually walking down our streets up here as if they are people.
Anonymous said…
I thought the Eastern US was having issues with Deer overpopulation and Lime disease. I am surprised that you are feeding them and providing a safe haven. We had issues in upstate NY with Deer completely decimating the forest from overpopulation and not enough hunters to replace the natural predators.
This N That said…
We rarely see a Buck here..I don't know where they hide..Security saw a big one at night about a month ago..I have probably only seen one 5 times in 8 years.. Judging by the amount of fun that we have each year, they are around! Have a happy day. Hugs
Lynne said…
Great pictures and great haven for your deer!