Late Summer Fawns

The days are getting shorter and cooler, and the wobbly legged fawns of spring are looking more like their parents as they lose their spots. This fawn only has a few spots on its front shoulder and hind quarter.

Fawns

This year's fawns are starting to fill out as they put on weight in preparation for the lean winter months.Their diet is mostly grass as their mother weans them off milk. 



While the fawns become more independent, they are now able to travel more and forage with their mother.

Fawns

This year's crop of fawns are getting bigger and bolder. The fawns are now 6 to 8 weeks old and starting to explore  as they learn the layout and hiding places in the neighborhood.



These two fawns analyze a path that takes them to an electric fence. By fall these fawns will be able to jump over the fence.

Summertime Deer

After a long, cold winter and spring, the local deer have shed their brown winter coats and now display their lightweight reddish summer coats. Along with the warmer weather, the deer enjoy an abundance  of fresh grass to feed on, but also the swarms of deer flies.



This year's fawns are now more visible as their wobbly legs become stronger and they become more mobile and independent.

Fawns

I had parked my truck along the driveway to our cabin and got out to take some pictures of butterflies and bees. When I returned to the truck I found these two fawns feeding within 25 feet of the other side of the truck. They continued to feed and then walked back into the brush

Summer Deer

I've been doing a lot of work with my tractors at our cabin and the deer pay little attention to me while I'm working. This doe and twin fawns came out to visit the food plot while I was working 30 yards away.



Earlier in the day, a doe was grazing at the food plot when I arrived to work at the pond. When the doe finished grazing it walk withing 15 yards of me to bed down in the tall grass below the dam. During the day I had kicked a buck and doe out of this same spot.

Fawns

While talking to a neighbor, this morning, he mentioned seeing a fawn in our lawn the day before. Since the fawn was seen in an area where a doe had raised fawns last year, I had a good idea where to look for this year's fawn.

After a few minutes of looking, I found the fawn in the tall grass. I took several photos of the fawn from just a couple of feet away. It started to rain so I decided to leave and come back after the rain stops.



When I returned, the fawn had left its "nest", so I continued searching the area. After about 15 minutes I found a fawn in its "nest". This time the fawn was laying in a better position for photos and the lighting was brighter. As I took lots of photos I could see the fawn breathe and its nose twitch.



After getting lots of photos I decided to leave the fawn alone and start walking through the tall grass and found another fawn just 20 feet away. I was only able to get 5 photos of this fawn before it jumped up and wobbled off into the brush.



A good day of deer hunting.

Garden Fawn

It's looking like a bumper crop of fawns this year. Mary was up early this morning transplanting flowers and found a new "garden gnome" in her shade garden behind our house.



This fawn looked to be only a couple of days old.

Fawn in the grass

The hay in the field continues to grow taller, making it harder to find this year's fawns. Yesterday afternoon we returned to the same location where I found a newborn fawn two weeks ago and had a fawn jump up a few feet from us in the hay.

I returned to the same location again this morning and found this fawn hiding in the tall hay.



I'm not sure if this is the same fawn but it didn't hang around to pose for photos.

Newborn Fawn

The spring rains have made the grass grow this year and I almost stepped on the newborn fawn as I was walking through a field at the cabin property.



I was able to walk around the fawn for a better view and got a few photos before the fawn took off for a new hiding place.

Out and About in the Neighborhood

It was a busy photo day in the neighborhood. Early in the morning I checked the Killdeer nest at the cabin and found a new, fourth egg in the nest. The little nest is looking crowded.



We worked on the gardens most of the day and around 6:00PM headed to the cabin to sit by the pond and relax. Within 20 feet of the park bench at the pond, a turtle was laying eggs in the rock hard dirt.



The many frogs at the pond are always fun to watch and listen to and a couple of the frogs were kind enough to pose for a picture.





After listening to the frogs and watching a few deer we headed to the barn to pickup some supplies for the gardens at the house. As we drove by Steve and Jan's driveway we could see a doe and a small fawn in the hay field. The doe ran across the field and headed for our field on the other side of Joyce Road. The fawn also ran but was unable to keep sight of the doe in the high grass. The fawn ran back to Steve's driveway and walked to Joyce Road where it stood near Steve's mailbox and looked for mom.


After a couple of minutes the fawn headed north on Joyce Road toward Brian's garage and into the field.



We continued on to the driveway for the barn where the lupins were in full bloom.



At the barn we loaded our supplies and watched a double rainbow.

Neighborhood Deer

In the past couple of weeks I've started to see a lot of fawns with and without their mothers. Saturday evening I was in the back field at the farm with our neighbor, Harley, and saw three fawns come running out of Harley's field and into our food plot. After a few minutes at the food plot the fawns ran at full speed back to Harley's field. Tonight triplets were in the clover field with their mother.


Caught this young buck behind the barn.

Night time activity

During the daytime we only see a small number of the wild animals in our neighborhood. Here are a few photos taken with digital game cameras of night time activity.


I created a bird feeder from an empty coffee container and suspended by a wire in front of the camera. It didn't take long for the local raccoons to find the feeder. This raccoon studies the feeder's design.

Greg and Linda's deer

Photos from Greg and Linda Saylor's deer farm





Photos provided by Greg and Linda Saylor

More Fawns Spotted in Neighborhood

A few of the local deer gathered for breakfast this morning to show off their fawns and let the "kids" play. Shortly after this picture was taken the group split up and headed different directions.

Young animals everywhere

Jason sent me the following photo of a couple of young calves from his farm.



These two fawns were spotted on Joyce Road just above our farm.


A doe with a fawn in the field behind the barn.



Young turkey poults crossing Joyce Road near Harley Kay's mailbox.