Female Mule Deer and Her Fawns - III.

In a deserted salty field near the Bear MBR I came across a group of five Mule deer in the early June. As I got closer, I realized it was a doe and her four fawns.

I only had half an hour before the sun would disappear below the horizon to take a few photos of this family. Fortunately, the mother and her babies didn't go anywhere; they needed food for the night.

Generally, life is good.

Female Mule Deer and Her Fawns - II.

The fawns were always close to their mother, one might say, never leaving her side and under her watchful eye.

Generally, life is good.

Female Mule Deer with Her Fawns - I.

 

In a deserted salty field near the Bear MBR I came across a group of five Mule deer. As I got closer, I realized it was a doe and her four fawns.

I only had half an hour before the sun would disappear below the horizon to take a few photos of this family. Fortunately, the mother and her babies didn't go anywhere; they needed food for the night.

Sometimes one or two fawns laid down on the grass for a short rest.  They had a long journey ahead of them to their overnight stay and needed rest.

Their mother was young and strong.  Looking at her I thought it must be not easy  to raise four little fawns and protect them.  I didn't see any male Mule deer around.  They do not help in raising the babies, the female does this on her own.

 

At first, the family of deer was a little concerned about my presence but soon they  paid no attention to me. Half an hour spent with this family turned out to be an eternity and joy.

Generally, life is good.

A Few Female Mule Deer

Antelope Island reveals itself differently each time.  The island may surprise or disappoint you.  I noticed that something interesting was waiting for me when I least expected it.

This morning the Antelope Island was kind. Early in my adventure I encountered a small group of female Mule deer.

Mating season for mule deer continues through the end of February. Some of the does I saw this morning were already pregnant.  It's difficult to say whether they will have one faun or twins.

If this is the first pregnancy of a doe, then one fawn will be born, and in the next pregnancy there will be twins.

Generally, life is good.

Young Male Mule Deer in November

 

Two days ago I encountered a small group of Mule deer, male and female, on Antelope Island.  

The first thing that caught my attention was a young buck poking his head out of the tall dry plants and intensely staring at something.

He had long antlers, and when he turned to look at me, his antlers stuck out as far as his nose.   

His legs were short and his necked was muscular.  I believe that the buck was young and about three years old. 

The buck broke away from the group and was quite close, but soon he got bored of being away from everyone and went to catch up with his friends. 

The main thing is for the deer to stay together to protect themselves from coyote attacks.

Generally, life is good.

Mule Deer in September on Antelope Island

 

Seeing and photographing Mule deer is always an adventure that sometimes ends with not so great photos.  But there are times when the deer are not far away,  the background is wonderful and the atmosphere is special.

Generally, life is good!

Mule Deer in January - I. At the Beau Pond

 

On that cold snowy morning, I encountered a herd of mule deer by the Beau pond and had a great time watching and photographing them. 

The most daring deer came close to the Beau pond, the more cautious preferred to stay at the distance for a while and then joined the rest.

The Mule deer don't have antlers during the winter. The deer start to grow their antlers back in late spring. When their antlers come back they are called velvet. 

The youngest deer at some point decided to play.

Mule deer are selective eaters that most opt for more nutritious weeds, twigs and shrubs but in the very cold winters, deer often join ducks to eat their food.

Life goes on.

Male and Female Mule Deer at Bear River

Mule deer are skittish and curious by nature. The male and the female deer I met in July made a short stop to look around and I had an opportunity to photograph them.

The young male mule deer.

Generally, life is good!

Mule Deer in January - II.

At the beginning of my adventure with Mule deer the bravest ones were the male Mule deer. They didn't hide behind the trees as the female deer did. But soon everything started to change and the female deer felt more comfortable with my presence.

On the photo above the female deer is cautiously walking toward her herd. She is pregnant and will give birth probably around April - May.

Such an innocent and mischievous face.  

The very young deer is hiding behind the tree as if it saying, you can't see me but I see you.

Another pregnant female deer.  She probably will give birth to two or three babies at the time and these babies will remain with their mother deer for almost one year.

The male Mule deer a taking a short rest.  My guess is that he is about three years old.

Male deer don't appear with their young ones, rather you can see them by themselves or with other male deer.

Generally, life is good!

Mule Deer in January - I.

I read that looking at the length of deer antlers, his legs and his neck you can determine his age.  I tried to do it looking at the male Mule deer I photographed  last Tuesday on Antelope Island. 

I can tell that the Mule deer has long antlers and they stick out as far as his nose, his legs look shorter and his neck is muscular. I believe that this deer is about three years old.

 

Deer have eyes on the side of their head and they have a very good vision.  They also have an excellent hearing due to the ability to rotate their ears in three directions without moving their heads.

This young Mule deer stayed close to his mother never leaving her side but at some moment he suddenly ran toward his father and was with him for a while.

The mule deer in winter are eating everything that is available.

A deer also likes to flaunt his antlers to impress female as if he saying to her " Look how handsome I am."  Having nice antlers also signals to the female that this male is healthy and superior.

The young deer usually stay close to their parents.

Generally, life is good!

sharing with Our World Tuesday

Family of Mule Deer with Their Young One

 

Yesterday was snowing off and on in spite the weather forecast promised that the day would be partially cloudy and at the beginning of the day it was cloudy with just a few snow flakes that weren't a big deal and I decided to explore the long wide road that leads south from the Garr Ranch (Antelope Island). 

In a few minutes I saw how the pack of seven Mule deer started to cross he road heading to the field. 

At some point the male and the female deer started to run to the field and I thought that they would soon disappear but I was wrong.

Another male deer running to the field to join others.  He has GPS collar around his neck that helps the wildlife biologists to track the deer and help them to stay healthy especially in winter.  

My first encounter with a very young Mule deer.  When he was born he already had a full fur and his eyes were open.  He could stand within minutes of being born and walk within a few hours but he wasn't strong yet and was very vulnerable for the first couple of weeks for predators like coyotes.

Right now he is a young teenager who isn't strong enough and still vulnerable but his parents always are near him and ready to protect him.

This isn't a great photo of the male Mule deer, I "cut off" his antlers just a little bit but I like this moment and how the deer is staring at me trying to figure out am I a danger for his young ones.

Generally, life is good!

The Harem

In one of my posts about Mule Deers I wrote that a female Mule Deer chooses which male's harem to join.  This young female decided to stay in the harem with other four females. Why did she make this decision is difficult to say but the decision isn't final.  This female Mule deer can change her mind any time and find another harem.

The Male Mule deer is following his harem, soon he will join his females.

Like all females in the harem this female is very cautious.  

I like how curious Mule deers are.  They hide, hide and then they look at you trying to figure out what is your intention. That is exactly what this male deer is doing, he even stopped eating for a while.

Mule female deers usually give birth to two fawns, although if it is their first time having a baby they often have one fawn.

Generally, life is good!

Male Mule Deer with His Harem During Mating Season

The beginning of October is a mating season for mule deers.  During this time a male deer will collect several females to form a mating harem and will compete for breeding opportunities. 

The male Mule deer I photographed last Sunday was very successful and got into his harem five females that followed him devoutly.  He would aggressively defend them from other males around. 

A young female Mule deer, a very skittish but curious.  She stopped for a few minutes to look back. 

This female also was curious but took some precautions and was almost invisible. Very smart!

For Mule Deers survival depends on how much fat they can put on during the summer to do well in winter.  

A few female Mule Deers had tags and GPS collars around their necks.

One of the reasons why wildlife biologists are doing it on Antelope Island and all over Utah is to help the deers to stay healthy especially in winter and follow their migration. 

The GPS collars help biologists to track the movement of deers or even tell if an animal has died.

Another female Mule deer who wasn't hiding and giving me a long stare.

Generally, life is good!