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| Everybody seems to be finding lots to eat |
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| The are eating sunflower hulls and spillage from the bird feeder |
These are mule deer. Notice the huge ears. Right now they are in their dark winter colors and have a heavy coat. They are also in good condition so have a fair bit of fat. Since these are does and fawns, I'm thinking that there must be a buck nearby since it's rutting season.
When I first came here in 1969, we never thought about seeing a deer in the city. There probably were one or two that mistakenly wandered into the city. We have a lot of interconnected park space. A major river runs through the center of the city. It gives the deer a good corridor through many areas.
Gradually over the years we found more and more deer in the city. For the last 20 years it's been very common to see deer in the city. Now they wander through our yards and help themselves to what ever they feel like as in this case they helped themselves to Bob's bird feeder.
Deer are smarter than we give them credit for. They can pick places that provide food and cover. Cities have those two features in abundance. Deer also know that some of their predators won't come into the city. Dogs are well under control in the city so some of the bigger dogs that might chase deer can't.
Deer have also grown accustomed to city lights and traffic. We used to talk about "a deer in the head lights." When deer were caught in the headlights in darkness they were blinded and usually didn't move. Deer will still do silly things in traffic but I have seen some incidents where they seem to watch for traffic. I saw a deer trying to cross a four lane road. It stood at the side of the road and watched for traffic. It was going to cross a couple of times but held back. Finally it gave up it's attempt to cross the road.
I like deer and never tire of seeing them. Since I spend a lot of time wandering through the bush I get to see quite a few deer.
I've seen tracks here in the snow along the Rideau River, which makes for a pretty good corridor for them, but not more beyond that. Out where my parents used to live, they had deer come through regularly in groups through the winter, also going for fallen bird seed by the feeders. They'd also eat the odd slice of bread my parents would toss out for them.
ReplyDeleteDeer have become opportunists and learned to eat many different things.
DeleteGreat photos of the deer. I was once told by a friend who had a friend who hunted, that there was a town where for obvious reasons firearms and hunting weren't allowed within a certain radius. The deer knew to hang around the town when hunters were about. He swore this was a true story.
ReplyDeleteI swear that's a true story too. Others do the same thing and come to town for hunting season.
DeleteWe see deer around here now and then, mostly in the spring and summer. I saw a doe with two fawns last spring and am not sure what happened to them. Nice pictures, Red. :-)
ReplyDeleteNow I have a question for you, were these black tailed deer?
DeleteThese are wonderful. Not so good if they are eating your trees and shrubs but perfect if they are eating someone else's.
ReplyDelete...and I'm sure they don't eat much of the other guys plants. People do go ballistic when they chomp on the tulips and daffodils.
DeleteThey are much smaller than our white tails here in Ontario. Oh I love seeing the deer. I am waiting for snow to follow their tracks. B
ReplyDeleteWhite tails and mulies are roughly the same size.
DeleteThey are with a lot of them there in the garden. We see them here also around the borders of the village. They specially like to visit the allotments :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure people watch for them as they're a treat to watch.
DeleteAs do we Red, we see a lot of deer and also Moose. They are both heavy sightings here in our small town. We have quite a population of deer here and also a large population of wild turkeys. This year seems to have exploded with wild turkeys. My friends are all talking about 30 - 60 in and around their properties they pick n peck and back to the woods they go. We will be able to hunt them next year- I can remember my Dad hunting for wild turkey at Christmas when I was a kid. LOTS of dark meat, eh.Nice informative, interesting post.
ReplyDeleteHere they discourage the moose form staying in town. they are a little too dangerous in traffic. We don't have turkeys here but i wouldn't be surprised to see them some day.
DeleteWe had deer, in the dark, under the front yard feeder last night!
ReplyDeleteI wish I functioned in the dark about 25% as well as deer do.
DeleteA few of the larger cities allow bow hunting in city limits, as well as the parks. I have a tall fence around the back of my property to allow me to garden.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'll bet your tall fence is about 8 ft?
DeleteThey can do huge damage to the landscaping of yards and in if they grow in population they ruin vegetable gardens, etc. I love seeing them, but they do need to have their population controlled.
ReplyDeleteI think shrubs can handle a little pruning but the soft plants are destroyed.
DeleteThey are beautiful! They almost have donkey ears.
ReplyDeleteWhen Gordon went to let our ponies out yesterday, there was a doe in the winter paddock, right behind the barn. Finney turned around and ran right back in the barn. :)
They do have a good set of ears and they can swivel them about 30 degrees. Where's the little degree symbol on this keyboard?
DeleteI can never find that either!!
DeleteEnjoyed this post, Red! Those Mulies look fat, furry, and healthy!
ReplyDeleteThey're always pretty healthy in the fall.
Deletethey're really 'fluffy' and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe heavy coats make them look pretty solid.
DeleteI do get annoyed when I look out and see a deer sedately destroying my plants, but even after 18 years of living here I still get a kick out of having them there.
ReplyDeleteAnd mule deer - very different from the standard ones we have here. Interesting.
Shrubs can handle a little pruning but the soft plants are destroyed. I'm not sure what you call standard...maybe white tails. We have white tails here. You have ti know what you're doing to identify them.
DeleteI saw a deer in our neighborhood last year and it was a special moment. It just watched me for a few minutes before walking back into the underbrush.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet yours was a black tailed deer. Black tailed deer on the coast.
DeleteWe have a herd of twenty in our rural/suburban neighborhood their love of white cedar isn't popular but most people get along with them....:)
ReplyDeleteTheir love of new garden plants isn't funny either
DeleteI think you are so lucky to see them in town. I was enchanted when I saw them wandering the streets in Victoria, Canada. Felt like I'd stepped into another world. Which I had, of course.
ReplyDeleteVictoria is a beautiful place to step into.
DeleteSuch a pretty sight. I love deer. We spot a few around here sometimes. One year, a buck ran through the green space behind our home. What an amazing thing that was!
ReplyDeleteTwo went through my yard last night but they were unseen...only tracks.
DeleteWhile many suburbs around Seattle have deer, we don'y have them here in our neighborhood, which is just as well, because I really don't want them eating my plants. We have had coyote and raccoons and even a bear here.
ReplyDeleteWe're enjoying the return of our deer also now that hunting season has passed. These mule deer are interesting looking critters.
ReplyDeleteI like the deer too. I always get excited when I see them around the pond or in the yard.
ReplyDeleteOhhhh cool! This is so beautiful. I know there's deer here in Hawaii, but I've never seen them.
ReplyDelete