Deer Scat

This March has been difficult to endure both for us, the plants and the wildlife.  A recent attempt to walk the lane to the back fields ended in failure.  Deep wet heavy snow limited the distance that I could safely walk.  Two days later there had been more melting with further compaction so I tried again.  This time the lane was walked to an opening into the fields.  Tiring from the struggle to cross the ever present snow, a shorter path to the high meadow was taken.  This ground was exposed to the full fury of the many recent storms and in places my walking stick penetrated nearly twenty-four inches of heavy wet compacted snow before finding ground.  Fortunately, my boots only dropped a couple of inches as I crossed the snow drifts.

Today we watched these five deer for more than one hour from the comfort of living room chairs.  After a long winter, their droppings from frequent previous visits nearly cover all of the exposed grass.  Today after they carefully found edible grass, they dropped to the ground and rested giving the appearance of chewing their cuds.  Finally, I tiptoed outside to try for a photo.  The herd gave me only one chance.  The leftmost deer reacted to my presence first.  Lifting her tail, she ran for cover.  It is possible that she is the mother of the other four.  As you look from left to right, Mom leads the escape while the older set of twins start to follow her.  The younger twins are slower to react.  One of them is looking right at me trying to gauge the degree of threat I present.  For now all are gone but they will certainly return.  They also call this place home.