More mewing

Early this morning, I heard a cat meowing. Nope, not gonna get fooled again, I thought. No doubt it's just a cat bird.

The mewing persisted and seemed to be getting louder. My goodness, Frumpkin is noisy this morning, I thought. (Frumpkin is Older Daughter's cat, and has a remarkably dainty "mew" for a cat his size.)

And still the mewing persisted. After a few more minutes I realized it wasn't so much a mew as a bleat. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy was lying on the deck, staring down at something. I picked up my camera, crept out on the porch, and saw this:

Fawns bleat a surprising amount, and this little one was looking for his mother (there were several does in the driveway). When he spotted her, he dashed over and started nursing while mama stared at me suspiciously.

All together now: Awwww.

Then Darcy barked and broke up the tableau. The fawn went one direction, the doe in another.

About fifteen minutes later, reunited once more, the pair was back in the driveway. This time Darcy was inside, so I quietly stepped out on the deck and watched.

A random turkey joined them.

Pretty soon mama wandered down the driveway...

...while baby stayed behind.

Then, for whatever reason, the fawn slipped through the fence and waded into the tall grass, disappearing from view. Mama turned around, and her baby was gone.

She walked slowly back up the driveway, grunting very softly "Junior? Junior!"

Eventually she wandered toward the top of the driveway, leaped the fence, and went in search of her offspring.

...Thus proving that disappearing toddlers and frantic mothers are not solely an affliction of humans.

Hello, gorgeous!

I came yawning into the kitchen about 4:45 am yesterday morning. As I stood at the kitchen sink filling the tea kettle, I saw the tiniest fawn. Hello, gorgeous! I snatched up my camera, but the light was pretty dim so the pix didn't come out the clearest.

The doe and fawn were standing on a strip of mown pasture Don had knocked down with the brush hog a few days before. The fawn gamboled about and kicked up its heels in the manner of newborns (our calves used to do the same thing), and I suspect the reason was it had room to move. Because of all the rain we've had, the grasses are nearly over my (5'2") head, so this little baby is normally buried by vegetation.

(Blurred image of gamboling fawn.)

Mama hovered nearby and soon marshaled her offspring out of sight.

I'll keep an eye out for this pair in the next couple weeks. Hopefully the next time I see them, the light will be better.

Then yesterday afternoon I noticed this heavily pregnant doe standing curiously still in our front yard.

It was pouring rain, and for the longest time – 10 or 15 minutes – she just stood there. She had a preoccupied look on her face.

I've seen that preoccupied look before – in a cow about to give birth. It's like they look inward, not outward.

And then – she hunched her back. Yep, I've seen that before too. This doe was in early labor.

I was kinda hoping she'd have her fawn in our front yard, but no such luck. Shortly after taking these pictures, she made her way out of sight, presumably to a more private location.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of fawns this summer.

Deer being dear

I took lots of deer photos over the summer. Here are a few I never posted.

May 4, when everything was still green, I caught these young ladies being snuggly.

May 18: Be alert! We need more lerts!

May 31: Enjoying the green grass.

Carefully watched by you-know-who.

July 5: Despite the sheer number of deer we have, we only saw one -- one! -- fawn the blessed summer long. No idea why.

When it was quite small, this baby sorta bounced into our yard through the bars of the gate. I'm glad I saw when this happened, so I could keep Mr. Darcy indoors.

I was starting to fret about how it would get back out, especially when its mama wandered away. The last thing I wanted to do was spook it and risk it breaking a leg as I attempted to open gates.

"Mama, wait for me!"

Thankfully it managed to slip through the mesh of the cattle panel fence around the yard and bounded away as if nothing had happened.

July 9: Doe against a smoky sky during summer wildfires.

July 9: Presumably the same fawn as above, on the road with mama.

And away across the pasture!

July 20: She never even noticed me watching her through a window.

August 2: "You talking to me?"

August 8: Barely had time to snatch a photo before they bounded away.

August 8: The baby is growing up.

August 22: Below our deck.

August 28: I was photographing turkeys when the fawn literally wandered into my field of view. Didn't see that one coming.

August 29: Can you spot the two does napping in the shade?

August 31: Early morning pastoral scene. Two deer lying down under the trees, others grazing, turkeys also passing through.

These two deer were grooming each other. Deer being dear.

September 1: The following morning, an almost an identical scene: Deer lying in the shade of the same tree, and just hanging out together.

In case you hadn't noticed, I like deer. A lot. Except when they get into the garden.

UPDATE: Literally moments after I posted this piece, I looked out the window and saw a group of deer with no less than five fawns among them. Go figure.

Frustratingly I couldn't get the entire group into one photo, and/or the babies were in high grass, but here are some pix:

Part of the group wandered toward the front of the house, others went into the woods. All of a sudden this baby looked up and realized it was all alone.

It slowly worked its way down the driveway, bleating quietly all the way. "Mom? Mom!"

It passed below the deck. I could have gotten better photos, but I didn't want to spook either the lone fawn or the rest of the group who were nearby.

Fortunately it was reunited with its mother and twin within moments.

So, for the moment, all is right with the world.

Yes, I like deer. Except in the garden, of course.