Over the River and Through the Woods

I saw a doe and fawn today but I let them walk away.  It would have been a chancy shot anyway, and I didn't have the heart to break up such a nice family on Thanksgiving.  I suppose they were heading over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for dinner.  Our own Thanksgiving has been rescheduled for December 2 because some of the family had to work today and this weekend.

Deer don't have beds like we have beds, they just lay down wherever, but the impression they leave in the snow or grass when they do is called a bed.  They don't sleep all night like we do either, they just doze off for an hour or two when they're not feeding.  I read somewhere that a deer can't go more than six hours without eating.  Most herbivores are like that because their food isn't as nutritious as the stuff we eat so they need to eat more of it.  According to my hunting magazines, deer in agricultural neighborhoods have core bedding areas where they hang out during the day, but even then they have to get up and nibble on something periodically.  Our local deer seem to wander around both night and day, alternately feeding and resting.  They do tend to avoid large open fields in the daytime, but I have seen them out there on foggy days.  The little rye patch in front of my blind is only 1/3 of an acre and is surrounded by cover, so the deer aren't usually shy about crossing it any time of the day or night.

The social behavior of whitetail deer varies with the seasons.  In the winter they congregate in what are called "yards", but they're not like people's yards.  A deer yard is a dense forest, usually consisting of mature conifers like white cedar.  This provides shelter from the elements, but there must also be some kind of food source nearby, although deer need less food in the winter because their metabolism slows down.  They disburse in the spring to give birth and raise their fawns.  I have read that the bucks hang out in bachelor groups, relinquishing the prime territory to the women and children.  If that's true, we must be living in prime territory because we almost never see bucks in the summer.  The bucks are most active in the fall when they are courting the ladies.  I have read that dominant bucks will tolerate subordinate bucks nearby as long as they don't try to breed, but I don't think I've ever seen two or more bucks traveling together in the fall.

My condolences to Old Dog on the loss of his cousin.