Yesterday provided a lot of excitement in deer-watching.
Fairly early in the morning I saw two sets of floppy ears peaking out of the grass in the back yard. Thinking I would get some photos of bunnies, I grabbed my camera and headed out to the spot. As I got closer, I saw white spots and knew that in fact these were fawn that the mother had left bedded down while she foraged.
The one on the left was wide awake and watched as I got too close for comfort. He bolted. But he didn't go far. The other one stayed asleep.
The doe wasn't far away. She was just on the edge of the cleaing.
She lay down under a tree for a while. Then got up and left the area, probably in search of better grass.
She stayed gone all day. During this time, I did a good amount of research on the internet to get some insight on what I was witnessing.
It's normal behavior for the doe to leave her fawn in the first month or so. At that early age, the fawn can't keep up with their mother as she forages for food. The fawn lay still in the grass so as not to draw attention to themselves. If a predator does find them, they'll bolt at an amazingly fast speed that can outrun almost any animal. Occasionally they'll get up to stretch but they stay within pretty close proximity to where they were left.
This little guy got hungry and decided to taste some of the plants close to the house.
Just before the sun went behind the hill, around 5 PM, the doe showed up to collect one of the fawn. He was pretty hungry. As he nursed, the doe cleaned him. She then took him back in to the brush.
About an hour and a half later, the doe showed up again to collect the second fawn. She let him nurse for a little bit. Then off they went back into the chaparral.
It's hard to know if this is the same doe we saw on Saturday. Deer stay within a fairly small territory so there's a good chance it is. It's a little unusual that the two fawn aren't together with their mother. Hopefully we'll see them again and can witness some play between the two fawn.
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