Mule Deer

they are nice looking animals~I suppose if hunger drives them they will eat whatever can be found!idon't suppose they know about fences|~ it's just food!
we used to have cows and wild horses through the houses and they would eat the plants,trash the bins,knock down walls and damage cars| as well as leaving large droppings in the middle of the road that you couild slip on in the dark I would prefer a few deer!

Beautiful animals, even if they do eat gardens for lunch. Lol

They do make a lovely photo though...........shame......

Guess they get their name from those ears ... by the size of them you did well to creep up on them !

It really isn't their fault, the wildlife up there is getting crowded out as the human population grows. This herd has taken advantage of the relative safey in town and are probably healthier than the country deer. They especially enjoy the bouquets left at the cemetery.

Arlene, We had range cows to deal with with when I lived up there. We always had a collie type dog to keep them out of our yard, One of my neighbors was taken down on the steps of her porch by a cow and was badly injured. (By the way...this was in the 1950's-things have changed considerably up there now.) The deer are much more delicate in their droppings. :-)

I agree! I would much prefer deer anytime! I do think cows are more appropriate to fields than streets of houses~some of them are very big and I am always a bit nervous when passing them on the way to the golf course/ beach when they have newborn calves~one of them kicked Harvey in the face last year and he was lucky he wasn't badly injured! The guy who owns them is not the most caring of owners~ they are left to their own devices~ but has commoners rights to graze on what is National Trust land ~people have been badly injured running into them in the dark~doesn't do the cow much good either!

Bonkers, I'd like to pretend that crawled on my hands and knees 50 yards to take this shot. But I think if I'd ridden up full speed on my bicycle they would have just gazed at me and gone on eating. No fear. Yup, the name is in the ears.

Arlene, Poor Harvey! Most places here have herd laws now; the cows have to be enclosed. Mr Weeds was kicked in the knee once while trying to drive some cows out of our yard with a mullein weed. (Verbascum) It was about 6 feet long when he first smacked her with it, but it broke and he got closer and closer each time he smacked her til her reach was longer than his. LOL
Where we live now we have whitetail deer. One morning I looked out and there was a tiny fawn curled up in the yard. I researched it on the internet an found that the does will settle them in a safe place and leave them all day. Apparently the babies don't have a scent to draw preditors. Yes she came back for him.

~that's lovely!I have seen large deer close up but not babies.
Harvey had a knock quite close to his eye which looked terrible and he was in quite a lot of pain~any harder and he could have had his face smashed in.
We could do with that sort of law but there are quite a lot of areas in the UK where sheep ,cows, horses and sometimes all three together can be in the road with no fences whatever.
We can take avoidance action in the areas where it is open grassland and can see the animals, but this is a residential area and the cows cause a lot of damage because they are big clumsy and hungry when the weather is bad and can walk down the middle of the road in the middle of the night! Don't get me started!
There is always the scenario of course where they are lying there right on the verge when they decide at the last minute to get up and jump in front of you~my daughter accidentally killed a lamb and was totally traumatised!
Hywel's recent blog highlights the same sort of thing in his area.

There are still a few places I have been in the last year or two that don't have herd laws, some Indian land, forest service land and land owned by the state. They are not highly populated areas, not in areas where there are private residences. It doesn't make any difference where you are if it's dark and there is giant black bull standing in the road, it can be deadly.

We have problems with wildlife in the road even in the city. This year with the high snow levels we've had alot of wildlife/car accidents

I know how bad your daughter must have felt hitting the lamb. Sometimes it's unavoidable.

Your picture of the Mule deer is very paintable Weed's..a perfect winter scene..but I do know what you all are saying about wild life in the roads..and with out deer population here it is something that we have to be aware of especailly in the early mornign and early evening...must be nice to be thought of by a deer as a safe place for her baby..that is sweet..

LOL..I will never forget coming around the mountain corner in Yellowstone park with David and having to slow and stop to go around a very large Buffalo walking up the center line...his road for sure...lol...

I am already springkling deer scram..think it is Cougar urine ...very strong smell..around your violets..they are still there, last I looked...yesterday. Will start with roses soon...they are beginning to leaf...

I can actually see the rose bush now... it's not budding though. :-) When it does, I'll try the deer scram. I've heard that cougar urine works to scare the deer away. It might make my cats think twice about scratching in the bushes too.