Living on the Edge of the Sagebrush Ocean
Lots of fawns showing up on the trail cameras this summer. It looks like the first week of June is when most of them are born. I am seeing at least one set of twins which is not unusual for Mule Deer. I caught some interaction between bucks and fawns which is interesting. More bucks are hanging out with does through the summer than I have seen in the past. They usually break away into bachelor groups until the fall. Animal behavior is always interesting.
We have had a few storms, and cold fronts move through, and the Mule Deer rut seems to be starting early this year. Usually, I don’t see any rutting behavior until Thanksgiving which is 3 weeks away. I like to wait a few weeks to check the cameras but with daylight savings happening on Sunday I decided to go out and change the timers on all the cameras for more accurate data. What a difference a few days made. All of the sudden the big boys have come out to play!
All summer long, on the trail cams and in person I’ve only seen a few smaller bucks. I wondered if all the big ones got taken by lions, hit by cars or fell to any number hazards that they are subject to. This week several new guys showed up all at once on the trail cameras checking out the does a little early this year.
So far this is the biggest buck I’ve seen you never know who might show up to compete for the does. I think it is going to be an interesting year with everything kicking off early. I was so pleased to get the in-person photo of the stately buck I used as the feature image for this post.
All of a sudden, after an incredibly hot summer, it is fall. We even got substantial rain the last few days. Rain is always welcome in the desert. It was cool enough for me to make the long hike across the river to check those cameras. I was delighted to run into several deer who have been ghosts on the trail cams. A couple of young bucks with does.
This guy has really high antlers. He still is in velvet.
This photo shows how the deer change their coats from summer red to the grey they will wear until spring of next year. The bucks are already in grey, and the doe is transitioning to it in the picture.
While going through the trail cam photos I noticed what I am going to say was a very close call. A coyote is stalking a mule deer fawn and the mom confronts him. I think this ended happily for the fawn. Lets look at the photos.
At 6:43 AM the fawn is passing through this grassy area. Mom must have passed through earlier. The camera never picked her up.
Same time and date the fawn is looking out front having moved a few steps forward.
Twelve minutes later a coyote is seen. He/she is sniffing the grass where the fawn paused and I think urinated.
Coyote is sniffing around and looking for the fawn I would guess.
Now you see the doe come back and apparently confront the coyote while the fawn I hope stayed hidden. I didn’t get anymore photos of this incident. I hope it turned out okay for the fawn. Coyotes do kill and eat fawns and yes, it is part of nature, but I have to root for the baby here. I think Mom saved the day.
While the moms are busy nurturing and protecting their fawns the bucks are enjoying the idle life. This is an easy time of the year for them. The forage is good, it was a wet winter. It is quiet as people don’t venture out on the trails in the heat. In short, its summer and the living is easy. They are growing their horns and storing up energy for the battles and mating that will take place in autumn.
This looks like a small buck with what may be first year antler growth. He may end up with two spikes or may develop a split.
This one already has some height, and you can see the start of the split. Probably will be a tall two point. This buck is most likely a two year old.
This is a nice symmetrical set of horns growing. He won’t be huge, probably still just a two pointer with thick beams. He will have some size and I think he will be handsome come fall.
So far these last two photos of the same buck show the largest or highest horns. There are still 3 and a half months of growth time left. It will be interesting see how these guys develop as the time goes by.
Still no Mountain Lions showing up on the cameras. Last photos of them were taken in February. I am still seeing the Bobcat. No kittens with it but hoping to. Next post, photos of him or her.
I am remembering why I didn’t leave the cameras out in the summer. It is unpleasant at 90+ degrees to walk out to them and retrieve the memory cards. Also, I forget how lush the grass growth is at the height of summer. Rattlesnakes are constantly on my mind as I tread carefully along the trails to get to the cameras. The sets across the river are going to have to wait as even with an early start its too hot to walk to them and back. Alright, enough complaining. As I walked along the trail yesterday morning I was watching for tracks as usual and spotted my first set of tiny deer hoofs in the dirt.
After seeing these I was excited to check the cameras and see if I had captured any newish fawns.
This little guy looks about two to three weeks old. I am using the cheapest trail cameras they make as I worry about them getting stolen. I think they take pretty good photos sometimes. This is a keeper.
I think these two may be twins. This is a common occurrence with Mule deer births.
Mom and newish fawn headed to the river for a drink.
I think this little guy could hear the trail cam click. It is such a quiet sound, but even young animals have the wariness to pay attention to small details and sounds
All the moms look healthy and well fed. They are sporting their reddish summer coats.
I have lots of photos of Mule Deer bucks from July through December of 2022. I feel like I got to know them well through the photos taken of them on my Trail cameras. It was interesting to watch them the last 6 months. They changed their behavior through the observation time. In the summer they were solitary or hung out with one other buck. I saw some sparring through summer and early fall and then the very serious business of competing for does in November and December. My favorite buck of the year is a classic 4 point western count. He has a large, very symmetrical rack and is in my opinion the handsomest of all the bucks in that area this year. He posed nicely for several photos and I enjoyed going through all his photos to choose a few I’ll show here.
Northern Desert Photography 