Saturday, July 30, 2011

Hello, Deer Boys!

The other morning a herd of big boy deer came to visit us!
I apologize for the bad quality of these photos.  They were shot through my kitchen window.  I had the best view of the deer from the kitchen - there were things blocking the view from the other windows.

How many deer do you see in the below photo?
There's 3 - one is walking behind the fence on the lower right.
The boy in the center of the photo appeared to be the herd leader.


Well, Hello! The buck that was walking along the fenceline put his head up.  He's a good-looking buck.
Leader buck is looking around to his left, always on alert, listening, watching.


I was so lucky to have seen all these bucks.  They were gorgeous.
While I watched they tossed their heads around, playing with each other.  It must be strange to grow these heavy horns on your head.  The antlers certainly look heavy all done up in velvet.
Leader buck is looking in my direction.  He wasn't playing with the others, just standing guard.


There were a couple first year bucks with little spikes of antlers, too ~ I don't know how I didn't get a photo of them.  They were running and playing and tossing their little heads around.  They were proud of their little horns. 
Leader buck is really looking around now.


Oh, hello there.  Another buck has appeared on the left.  That's what the leader was looking at.


I caught a picture as the boy up front was tossing his head around.  His eyes are closed.  He looks so peaceful.  Is he smiling?


Everyone is slowly starting to walk away.  We counted over ten male deer in this buck herd.  I didn't get photos of them all, as some were behind bushes, and some were running and the photos came out fuzzy.


Right now the female deer are off raising their adorable little fawns, and the males separate off to form their own herds.  We don't see many buck herds, but we see the groups of females and babies every day now.


I know, the blackberry bushes are growing wild on the fences.  That's another task for another day...
Happy Saturday!

9 comments:

Country Girl said...

Love these pictures of the bucks! Wish we could see more wild life from our house! Thanks for sharing your backyard with us!

Kessie said...

Wow, those are some nice looking antlers on those bucks! What a sight. They were sure keeping an eye on the house, weren't they? Was this real early in the morning?

CaliforniaGrammy said...

How exciting, I've never seen a "buck herd" only co-ed with the fawns. Thanks for sharing your morning with us. Blackberries ready to pick? Yummo . . . blackberry jam!

Farm Girl said...

It looks so nice. I can't imagine having that many deer and seeing them out my kitchen window. It must be lovely to be able to get away from the rat race and return to such a nice retreat. It is like stepping back in time. Have a nice weekend.

Carla said...

My goodness, if any hunters read your blog, you'll have them drooling! My buck herd was up to 6 and is now down to 4.

AJ-OAKS said...

Holy Cow!!!!! You lucky duck you!! The boys are magnificent!!! Who needs television when you have a show like that to watch! WOW!!!

Gail said...

Absolutely amazing! That is a lot of bucks in one bunch. Beautiful.

Unknown said...

Great photos. To see that out my window well, you are blessed.

Anonymous said...

Wow....those are some big boys and soooo many! We never see that many at one time together......we get large herds of does, like 45 crossing our property.