Fawns

[WV Sawmiller]

   Sorry, no pics but I saw my first fawn of the year yesterday while returning from a graduation party with my 8 y/o grandson. The fawn was playing beside the road about 3 miles from my house with his mother a few feet away. I was able to stop and show him to my GS which was neat for him to see. This afternoon I was dragging some fresh cut poplar tops down for firewood with my ATV. I'd cut the tree for lumber but salvaged a lot of limbs and tops for firewood. Since I had plenty of weight for an anchor I headed straight down the steep hill through the young stickweeds (Astors) which covered everything. I was watching closely so I did not hit a stump, rock or run over a fawn. Since I was in an elevated position I was able to spot a fawn laying in the thick weeds below me. By the time I saw him and got stopped I was about 6' from him. I had not taken my camera with me but I shut the 4 wheeler off and called my wife to see if she wanted to come take pictures. I knew if I drove past him the limbs I was dragging would spook him. While I was talking the fawn jumped up and ran off, stopped, walked a little more then finally out of sight about 50 yards away. I suspect he bedded down over there but since my wife declined to come look for him I did not go check further for him.

    I suspect these fawns were 3-4 weeks old and not newborns. I always love to spot the first fawn of the year.

[Chuck White]

Haven't seen any fawns here yet, but seen a few doe that appear kind of thin!

[WV Sawmiller]

  I was walking out to my truck for something I forgot and saw a fawn running around my woodshed. I came in and grabbed my camera and wife got hers. I was walking out to where I last saw it and spotted the doe in the field. She ran and 2 fawns and a second doe up in the woods ran off. They are old enough now they are following their moms around some of the time in stead of staying parked all the time.

   We did not get a picture of either.

    While stacking and sawing some boards this afternoon I spotted one doe sneaking up the creekbed about about 40 yards away. I did not see her fawn with her. When I got back to the mill another doe was up in the woodline about 100 yards away. She fed around up there half an hour I guess before she moseyed off.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I got out and sprayed some weeds in the pasture then got in the edge of the woodline and spotted this little guy laying beside a fallen spruce top.




    It finally got up and ran 20 yards or so and laid down besides a middle sized walnut then got up and ran again a hundred yards or so and must have hid int he roses and brush near there  I love to find them like this.

[Peter Drouin]

Nice. I hope they don't eat that poison you put out.

[WV Sawmiller]

It was herbicide and I don't think it would hurt them if they munched a little of it. I suspect the fawns are still only drinking milk at this stage. We had a thunderstorm last night which would have washed most off. The plants are already curling up.

   I will be spraying a lot more in the next few weeks. Using a backpack sprayer so not doing a whole lot at a time.  My last experience with a 15 gallon power sprayer in the basket of my ATV resulted in it flipping multiple times on a steep down hill area which hurt my feeling a bunch and did not do much for the rest of my body although I had parted ways after the first flip.

   The machine is still running but it ain't the same.

[barbender]

I spotted my first fan of the year yesterday while out forwarding. It jumped up next to a pile of wood I was after. Thats the third time I've had that happen, and I'm thankful that they all moved before my grapple got there. Otherwise I would've grabbed them without even seeing. I can't see them until they move in that situation, and it about gives one a heart attack when they jump up!

Even slightly more exciting are skunks- twice I've grabbed a pile of wood and as I was setting it on the machine, a skunk came jumping out. Now a person kinda forgets about the cab separating you from that skunk butt that is pointed at you from 5' away, I hit the floor! 

[Jeff]

We got babies! Fawn included.

[Peter Drouin]

Very nice, springtime and babies.

[Otis1]

Cool video. 

I saw my first fawns last week. They were old enough to run away pretty quietly and noticed me from a distance. In the past I've run into some young ones that I almost stepped on, they make a terrible noise when scared. 

[doc henderson]

Lots of nature there.

[WV Sawmiller]

Jeff,

    Your cranes remind me of our 2006 trip to Mongolia. I was working a project in the Gobi desert at a gold and copper mine and my wife came and joined me for a vacation. We toured all across central and northern Mongolia. One day we spotted a couple of adult cranes or Ibis similar to the ones in your picture. They had a pair of chicks about the size of a medium chicken. It was bare desert or short grass so we were able to follow them in our SUV. When they realized they could not outrun us the chicks dropped and froze with their chins on the ground like a baby quail will do. The parents were 50-60 yards way and started doing the broken wing act like a quail or kildeer will do trying to draw us away. We got up within a few feet of the chicks and took pictures. After a while the chicks seemed to realize they weren't fixing to become dinner so one raised his head and PEEPED loudly. Mama answered so he jumped up and ran to rejoin her. A few seconds later his sibling did the same thing,

   It was neat to see them do their natural hide and draw away the predator act like our quail or kildeer. I had an old turkey hen do that a few years back in my pasture when I got too close to her nest. I was told in Southern Africa that Ostriches will do the same trick.

    Antelope in Africa will stomp their foot at you to make you/a predator move just like when an old whitetail doe busts you. It is fun to see similar traits in animals on totally different continents.