Our Newest Guests: Meet the Baby Deer

[fuzzyfelt]

So sweet!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We have two more new babies - little ones!

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1858/deer11.jpg

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2683/snake1t.jpg

Oh wait, that's my breakfast. Little Tyke brought it for me. Note: turn camera to manual focus before picking up snake

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8554/snake2z.jpg

Mmmmmmmm, thanks, Tyke.

And another shot of our newest baby

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9995/deer12m.jpg

 

[Evo]

Aww, the babies are so CUUUTE!

Ack, what kind of snake is that?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

As far as I know, it's just a common garter snake.

Unfortunately, Little Tyke is particularly fond of and proficient at catching snakes and releasing them in my office. She plays with them for a minute or two and then walks away [unless she eats it].

 

[Tsu]

As far as I know, it's just a common garter snake.

Unfortunately, Little Tyke is particularly fond of and proficient at catching snakes and releasing them in my office. She plays with them for a minute or two and then walks away [unless she eats it].

Im told its a yellow racer...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here are some more of one of the two new babies. For perspective, that grass in the foreground on the first photo is slightly less than a foot tall. [correction. I think the first two photos are one [looks male to me] and the second two photos are the other [I'd bet a female.]

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/5959/deer20.jpg

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/2871/deer21.jpg

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/4021/deer22.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4328/deer23.jpg

 

[Evo]

Those are great!

 

[Tsu]

That's the one that went strolling past the window as I was getting ready for work today. She is SOOOOO CUUUUTTTTE! I want to juice THAT one...

 

[Evo]

That's the one that went strolling past the window as I was getting ready for work today. She is SOOOOO CUUUUTTTTE! I want to juice THAT one...

It does look very, very juicy!

 

[turbo]

You Addams girls! My wife juices fruits and vegetables to make smoothies for her breakfast, but she never told me to bring her some baby wild ruminants. Wouldn't want be around for that juicing.

 

[Tsu]

Im told its a yellow racer...

I don't think that's right, tho. I googled yellow racer with red head and got nada... Bupkiss!... I think Ivans right. Just a commom garter... Some do have read heads...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I don't think that's right, tho. I googled yellow racer with red head and got nada... Bupkiss!... I think Ivans right. Just a commom garter... Some do have read heads...

Listen to you... "Just a common garter"

When we first moved here, Tsu would get ill and had to lie down if she saw a snake. We've come a long way!

 

[mathal]

I spent the majority of my making money time in the bush planting trees. Sorry, no pictures to offer you, too busy making 10 to 20 cents a tree.
Deer get abandoned by their mothers when they reach adolescence and are capapble of taking care of themselves. Psychologically (a deer?) they still seem to need and seek companionship. I've had deer of this age (probably 8 months to a bit over a year) hang out with me, grazing as close as 10 feet (3 meters) for hours while I was working. It's neat to be that close to wildlife and be accepted.
I once did a contract in an area that had been designated as part of a park. The logging had been done a few years previously and the deer by the time we came to plant the area were mostly a generation away from being shot at by people.We woke up most mornings with them milling around the area almost oblivious to us.

mathal

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I just had a friend here who is an avid hunter. We took a little walk, and within a few minutes he was able to identify not only elk droppings, but BEAR droppings! I've had a bear right outside of my office within the last two months or so.

We've never seen an elk or a bear around here in the over twenty years that we've been here, but I know this guy knows his shhhhhh...um, stuff.

The good news is that he didn't see any evidence of mountain lions, which is my biggest concern. They have been around at times in years past but the local ranchers take care of any problems right away. The next biggest concern would be the presense of coyotes that might eat our cats, but we haven't seen or heard of any problems there for some time. I am almost 100% certain that I saw a wolf one day. It was a fair distance away, but I clearly saw it hop over a five-foot cow fence with hardly any effort. The build and gate was distinctly different from a normal dog, and it must have been too big to be a coyote to hop a fence like that. It almost looked like he stepped over it, rather than jump. That was when my jaw dropped.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I had to check anyway just to be sure. It does look like an exact match for black bear droppings. That really amazes me. The elk isn't as surprising, but I never thought bears would come this far down out of the mountains. Good to know! At least now I know it's a possibility. First contact with no warning could be quite a shock.

I have heard things in the outer part of the barn at night a few times that sounded too big to be a cat or racoon. Once I found some things that I had stacked that had shifted. This was quite perplexing as it seemed far too heavy for anything I could think of to move it. The possibility of a bear makes sense. I have always wondered what could have caused that.

What was amazing was how many things my buddy found in just a few minutes of walking around. But this guy grew up in a family full of big-game hunters. It was obvious that his ability to find tracks and scat were nearly instinctive.