Is our cat best friends with a pet deer?

  • Thread starter Ivan Seeking
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In summary: Here they are hanging out by my pile of Hemlock bark dust. The other one is behind the pile -- you can just see it's ear sticking out above the pile on the left. In summary, In the morning, I caught the cat and resident deer playing in Tsu's garden. And to think that all of this time Tsu has blamed the cats for tearing up the garden. But today I noticed the buds for antlers on this one deer, which may mean this is the male of the year. The deer was hopping around like a kitten, with our Bun kitty hot in pursuit. Last year the cats brought skunks into the house... So this morning's events may be a result of that.
  • #1
Ivan Seeking
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I caught the cat and resident deer playing in Tsu's garden this morning. And to think that all of this time Tsu has blamed the cats for tearing up the garden. :rolleyes: The deer was hopping around like a kitten, with our Bun kitty hot in pursuit. :rofl: Last year the cats brought skunks into the house...

The deer often sleeps just 30 feet from the house now, under Tsu's Ocean Spray plant. :cool: We're hoping for babies.
 
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  • #2
:bugeye: :bugeye: :rofl: Your cat must be so clever!
 
  • #3
Lisa! said:
:bugeye: :bugeye: :rofl: Your cat must be so clever!
or very confused
 
  • #4
zanazzi78 said:
or very confused

Just think, next year deercats or catdeers
 
  • #5
Ivan Seeking said:
The deer often sleeps just 30 feet from the house now, under Tsu's Ocean Spray plant. :cool: We're hoping for babies.


Little baby Tsu Seekings, or baby deercats?
 
  • #6
Lyme_Tick_1.JPG
 
  • #7
Hitssquad has a pet too?
 
  • #8
No, that's a Lyme tick.
 
  • #9
hitssquad said:
No, that's a Lyme tick.
Looks like the one that bit BicycleTree.
 
  • #10
aww and cat and a deer having babies!


Young deers are cute, if they come in contact with another creature who dosen't want to eat them, they will play. Just think of Bambi, whith Thumper and Flower..
 
  • #11
hypatia said:
Just think of Bambi, whith Thumper and Flower..


and a nice bottle of chianti..mmmmmmm!
 
  • #12
hitssquad said:
No, that's a Lyme tick.
Even though it's called a deer tick, Lyme disease is spread more from deer mice than from deer.

But they won't be liking those baby deer so much when Tsu finds them eating everything in the garden down to bare twigs!

Venison anyone?
 
  • #13
I was a bit worried... I thought you maybe meant the .. other deer. :yuck:
 
  • #14
Ivan Seeking said:
We're hoping for babies.
Bun and the deer? :bugeye:
 
  • #15
Moonbear said:
But they won't be liking those baby deer so much when Tsu finds them eating everything in the garden down to bare twigs!

By now Tsu is usually harvesting a bouquet of roses a day, but there's nothing but stumps out there. :rofl: I think she would gladly sacrifice her entire garden for a couple of fawns. But today I noticed the buds for antlers on this one. Do the females get little antlers or is this definitively a male? We had two but one disappeared. It may have been this one's mother...? It must be too young to have taken a mate.
 
  • #16
Ivan Seeking said:
By now Tsu is usually harvesting a bouquet of roses a day, but there's nothing but stumps out there. :rofl: I think she would gladly sacrifice her entire garden for a couple of fawns. But today I noticed the buds for antlers on this one. Do the females get little antlers or is this definitively a male? We had two but one disappeared. It may have been this one's mother...? It must be too young to have taken a mate.

Only the males get antlers...usually. In the captive herd I worked with, one of the females developed little horn buds for some reason, but they never developed more than that. This is the right time of year for them to start developing antlers and it's too soon for them to be mating...that's a few months away still. It's possible this one is a yearling and the other one with him was his mother. By now, the fawns should have mostly lost their spots, so other than size, it would be hard to tell the adults from juveniles (the juveniles/yearlings would still be a bit smaller this time of year).

You'll have to wait until spring for fawns, and they stay in hiding while very young (at least until the farmers plow the fields and find them and call Fish Game and Wildlife to come get the "abandoned" fawns). They are so cute at that age! :smile:
 
  • #17
Could you please post a photo of them here or in caption competetion thread?
 
  • #18
I DO have some pictures!11111 I will post them for you as soon as I get home from work. OK? :smile:
 
  • #19
Thank you very much. :smile: Very nice of you.
 
  • #20
First year males are called button bucks. Even tho they are small, when mateing season comes, they can become dangerous. They will fight just about anything, trees, garden statues, cars and you.
They are still with the female herd, but are being encouraged to go there separate way. They spend more and more time on there own.
 
  • #21
OK! HERE WE GO! :biggrin: :biggrin:

This is a close up of one in my newest garden that I will be planting...
http://hosted.yourimg.com/05/217/02/DSC00280a.jpg



This is both of them down by the creek (just down a little hill from our house)...
http://hosted.yourimg.com/05/217/02/DSC00293a.jpg



Here they are hanging out by my pile of Hemlock bark dust. The other one is behind the pile -- you can just see it's ear sticking out above the pile on the left. That's Ivan's office in the background. :approve:
http://hosted.yourimg.com/05/217/02/DSC00299a.jpg



And here he (?) is hanging out in my Ocean Spray shrub. He hangs out with me while I'm in my garden. Except... I want it to be a SHE! I want some baby deer to play with in the spring. :cry: :smile:
http://hosted.yourimg.com/05/217/03/DSC00406A.jpg
 
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  • #22
Neat... :smile:
 
  • #23
Wow!very nice pictures. Thank you very very much. :smile:
 
  • #24
Lisa! said:
Could you please post a photo of them here or in caption competetion thread?

Very nice pics, Tsu. Here's another one.

fxs78408.jpg

Oh man, I hope she doesn't find my other carrot!
 
  • #25
Such sweet deeries! I would give up..well at least part of my garden for them too.
 
  • #26
I think that Ivan and Tsu, should be voted the nicest couple on PFs, they are
just so cute, but a little strange. :biggrin: :rofl:
 
  • #27
Lisa! said:
Caption competition thread?
I liked that thread...and now it's gone :cry:
 
  • #28
wolram said:
I think that Ivan and Tsu, should be voted the nicest couple on PFs, they are
just so cute, but a little strange. :biggrin: :rofl:
Arn't they the "only" couple on PF? :rofl: that makes voteing so much easier.
 
  • #29
Those deer are so cute. Great pictures!
What type are they? They don't look like any I see around here (England).
 
  • #30
matthyaouw said:
Those deer are so cute. Great pictures!
What type are they? They don't look like any I see around here (England).
They're white-tailed deer.
 
  • #31
DocToxyn calls them undercooked deer.
 
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  • #32
Ivan Seeking said:
DocToxyn calls them undercooked deer.
:rofl: Since I'm moving to WV where I think their biggest "industry" is hunting, I suppose I have to say the same thing now. :uhh: They're really cute at a distance, not so cute close up and in tight quarters.
 
  • #33
Moonbear said:
:rofl: Since I'm moving to WV where I think their biggest "industry" is hunting, I suppose I have to say the same thing now. :uhh: They're really cute at a distance, not so cute close up and in tight quarters.
Nooooo, NOOOOOO. I can't even think about killing one of those beautiful creatures. :cry:

Of course if it's already a rump roast, the only decent thing to do is eat it, in honor of it, of course, sort of a "Stranger in a strange land" grokking kind of way. :redface: :bugeye:
 
  • #34
Moonbear said:
They're white-tailed deer.
Actually they are Western Black Tail. Oregon has a very small White Tail population, they are localized in a valley about 100mi south of here. Our Black Tails are small, less the 100lbs dressed, often way less then 100 lbs. If you go to the other side of the Cascade mountains you will find a much larger Mule Deer.

My mom was born and grew up on a ranch in the Oregon Coast range. One year, as a child, she befriended a deer, later in the year her "pet" grew horns (ok, antlers). When it chased her across the yard and tore her dress, grandpa wasted no time...They had venison.
 
  • #35
I'd say the more immediate concern is the cat getting stomped.
 

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