Teeny Training Partner

[Elaine]

Life unfolds in rather odd ways… sometimes it seems that no one is steering the ship, other times it seems that the ship is being steered onto the rocks, can’t say that I always connect to the rhyme or reason. This is one of those pivotal weekends in my life… sort of the reverse of exactly one year ago, not really clear which direction the ship is going anymore, but I'm getting pretty seasick. :o

Switching gears, it’s been over 90 degrees around here lately… with what must be close to 3000 % humidity. I have to get out with the horses pretty early if I want to do much with them. So I was out working with True Ruler this morning at the far side of the pasture… must have been around 6:30a.m. or so… we were really having a wonderful time when all of a sudden out of the brush line surrounding the pasture popped a teeny little fawn. It trotted straight towards us and then stopped and ran around in circles… twitching its tail and bouncing along just like a young foal. Then it stopped, lowered its head, took a good long look at us and trotted even closer. At this point Lourdess had joined True Ruler and I. We all three stood in stunned amazement, held captive by this tiny little creature who had started running circles again. Again, it lowered its head, looked directly at us and trotted even closer, to within about 6 feet. It was so innocent and sweet, so so so cute, and it clearly wanted to play with us.

In the back of my mind I was thinking, “Where the heck is mom? I hope this is not an orphan baby deer. Does Purina make Baby Deer Chow?” I was also thinking that the kindest thing I could do for it would be to NEVER encourage it to approach humans, because humans mean “bad things” to deer. It was just so cute, I did nothing and simply enjoyed the moments. I think Lourdess and True Ruler had about decided to step forward to play with the baby when mom finally appeared from the brush line, jumped into the pasture, which was a signal for the baby to rejoin mom. Together they both wandered off to the far end of the field, grazed a bit and then disappeared back into the brush line.

[Sonquest]

Hey Elaine,
Another baby deer sighting! We are watching the one over at the property get stronger every day!

About a week ago my next door neighbor called me over to see a tiny fawn curled up beside her shed. It too, was so sweet!

Later in the afternoon I was outside with Contender and kept hearing these dogs barking. I commented to the neighbor that it sounded like they had something cornered. She said she thought so too. So I put Contender in the house, got on the golf cart and went to investigate the area of the woods where the barking was coming from. Sure enough, I found a yellow lab and a smaller mix, barking at something on the ground. As I got closer, I saw a tiny head poke up and then up stood a beautiful little fawn.

I charged the dogs with the golfcart horn blowing and they took off for a nearby house. I followed them and asked the man doing yard work if he would put them away before they scared the poor baby to death.

As I drove back by I could see the little guy had curled back up in the grass so I didn't go near figuring he had had enough for one afternoon.

That evening, the neighbors were out sitting on their back porch and up through their field came Momma deer. They said she went and stood about 6 feet from the baby and stomped her front feet and then made a huffing sound and the baby got up and went to the mom and immediately started nursing. Then the two of them walked to the edge of the woods and picked up the other little one. TWINS!!

Have since learned that that is what momma deer do. They leave their babies in a supposedly safe place for the day and come back to get them in the evening. Amazes me that any of them make it to adulthood!

Seems as though the deer are getting less and less afraid of man. Not good for their life expectancy!

Tina

[Elaine]

A freind who lives several miles away found three stray dogs in her driveway the other day. She stopped one, checked the tags, called the owner, he came right over, even brought along a bottle of wine as a “Thank You.” He said they had run off chasing a deer. For whatever reason we haven’t had a stray dog around here for about a year (knock on wood). There is a small heard of deer that graze the big pasture at night, I see them just about every evening about an hour before sunset. They are clearly too comfortable with my presence (and my dogs aren't allowed in the big pasture), so they are developing a sense of world order that is not a good thing for them long-term. Came fall- when people start shooting at them - they’ll be screwed.

I suspect that the biggest problem deer around here face is from hunters with guns… and/or getting hit by some sort of motor vehicle. I’m a bit torn about what to do with all the deer. There is certainly no shortage of them any more, they have adapted beautifully to having us up close in their environment. I am not convinced that an exploding deer population is a good thing. I have no problem with hunters /hunting, but I am also not convinced that all hunters are skilled marksmen who make clean kills. I'd bet they injure a lot of animals, who get away, and later die from infected wounds.

From what I’ve observed informally, there are really no controls over who can have a gun… everyone down here has one and is shooting at something. Heck, they market “Kids Guns” for parents to give to their 6 year olds. I even bought one of those kids guns to kill snakes. The gun has no sights on the barrel. Seriously, there is no way to aim the thing. I have no idea how in earth you’d ever hit a snake with it. But even if you could aim it with some measure of accuracy, who walks around with a loaded rifle? IF I saw a snake, I’d have to say, “Wait right there Mr. Snake, I’d like to blow you to smithereens, but first I have to run up to the house and get my gun, and then I've got to find the damn bullets… this may take a few minutes, so please don’t move, I’ll be right back.”

I put the gun in storage.


Tina,
When I first saw the little guy in my pasture I thought immediately of the photo you'd sent with the teeny tiny baby deer. My little guy was bigger, about the size of a German Pinscher.

[dobesign]

Hey Eraine, just run'em over with the lawn mower. And while we're on the topic of hunting season...if its Tourist season, why can't we shoot them or run them over with lawn mowers. Personally, I think we could add Middle Management Season or People That Piss Us Off Season...LOL

[andyhilt27]

Have you had any sightings of Carolina dogs around there? I swear I saw one in Eastern Tennesee while vacationing last year.

Now that we're on the topic of wild life and human interaction....I can not believe there have not been any reported bear attacks in Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountains in recent years or any that I know of. I am sure there are more than a few jackasses trying to feed the Black Bears there. The deer there have no fear of humans. It is really a neat place in spite of the unorthodoxed relationships between human and animal.

[Kissntell]

When huntin season comes the deer disapear.

Ma ma leaves her twins seperately to guarantee survival. The fawns have no smell. She leaves them by day and gathers them by night. Twins are common in deer.

Deer taste good if they eat good things. Deer are hard on private gardens. Purina does make Deer Chow. They also make Elk Chow and a Chow which makes great antlers for the hunting ranches.

Deer love apples and corn fields. If you throw out some apples you will have many deer coming for the feast. Likewise, if you have apple trees the apples will be trimed from the ground line.

Deer is lean in fat and healthy meat to eat if it doesn't have chronic waste disease. The deer population has become too large and thus the chronic waste disease has gotten worse.