Wildlife Faces Winter

Even though it is not officialy winter, the temperatures are quite frigid and until recently there was a light covering of snow in our area. As winter arrives, wildlife faces a struggle to survive.
In severe instances there may be a large amount of winter mortality in the whitetail deer herd, but most recent winters have been relatively mild.

Whitetail Buck Crosses A Winter Meadow

Dove Basks In Warm Rays Of Afternoon Sun

Birds and animals make the most of situations which make survival easier and spend as much time as possible in sunlit areas that are sheltered from the wind.

For more Camera Critters Photos, click Here!

The Whitetail Rut Explodes At Shenandoah National Park

The mating season for whitetail deer, or the rut as it is commonly known, usually kicks into overdrive during the last week in October or the first week in November. There has been little signs of rutting activity here, other than a few desultory sparring matches between small bucks.

A Thursday morning trip to Big Meadows at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia found a far different set of circumstances, with the rut going full bore.

8 Point Buck Chasing Doe

The bucks are actually ready to mate before the does are ready to stand, so this is the time that one often sees a doe running with a buck in hot pursuit.

Hot Pursuit

Bucks make lip curls, also known as flehmening, to concentrate the odor of a doe's urine in their nostrils. From this they are able to ascertain whether a doe is in heat, or if they should look elsewhere for a receptive female.

The Lip Curl Or Flemen


Checking The Doe's Scent

It seems that the rut is triggered by a combination of the time of year and weather conditions, with activity being more intense in cold weather, and slacking off during warm periods. Big Meadows at SNP is located high atop the Blue Ridge and temperatures are usually ten degrees or more colder than in the valley floor, or my home area, which likely explains why the rut is already underway there. It is almost certain that activity will explode here too, after the next northwest cold front passes.

Click Here to view more Camera Critters from around the world!

Whitetail Antler Development: Camera Critters

While the pedicels are visible on the mature bucks throughout the winter and early spring, there is little significant growth until now. This two year old shows promise and should develop into an eight-point or more with a beautiful spread. (He was a three-point last year)

Why Is He Pointing That Thing At Me?

Most bucks disperse from their home range or are killed in their first autumn with antlers. Luckily this animal was not a legal buck except for junior hunters and he did not disperse so he is still with the local herd. It is unlikely that he will remain through the summer, but time will tell.

Chow Time

A deer divides their time between eating and resting at this time of year as the rut and hunting seasons are over, and the fawns have not yet been born.

Boy That Feels Good!

For more Camera Crittters photographs, click Here!

March 31: A Beautiful Spring Day

Shortly after sunup this morning I spied these deer interacting. They are brother and sister, but are not the same age. The buck is standing in back and will be two years old this June, while the doe will be four years old. He was licking and nibbling the hair on the back of her neck and top of the head and she was enjoying every moment of it.

"Siblings"

They definitely were not there yesterday, but this afternoon the Coltsfoot were in full bloom by a back country road. They are one of the earliest blooming wildflowers in our area and are often mistaken for dandelion.

"Coltsfoot"

Photographing a turkey as he prepared to go to roost brought a fitting conclusion to an exceptional spring day.

"Flying Up"

Turkeys spend the night roosting in tall trees to protect them from predators while they are sleeping.

Camera Critters: An Old Friend Is Gone

The first morning of Pennsylvania's rifle deer season and every deer in this photography is a legal target--if a hunter has the proper tags and they are in an area where hunting is permitted. Fortunately these animals are safe, unless they stray from the posted sanctuary or a wildlife criminal drives by and shoots them from his vehicle.

It is unclear just what happened, but on the third morning of season, I realized that the large doe which is standing to the left side of the picture and looking to the left, was missing and most likely dead.

The First Day Of Season

This animal was born in 2000 along with a twin sister. At that time I was mostly shooting video and I recorded many beautiful clips of them. She had her first fawn in 2003 and has had one or two fawns each year since then. She was especially trusting of me, and often gave me opportunities to photograph her young. She was featured in a post a short time ago with one of her fawns from this year, which is a small doe.

With doe fawn from this year: November 15th

She was a stunning photographic subject when she was standing in a good position, but many readers were concerned about her health when they noted how thin and bony she appeared in many shots. This thin look was most likely a combination of genetics and a result of the strain of raising a large number of fawns.

With newborn fawn: June 2008

In Her Prime: August 2005

It is most likely that I will never know what happened to her. It is very possible that she strayed from the posted sanctuary and was legally killed, but I am leaning toward the view that she was taken by a road hunter, since I have seen some well known practitioners of this crime driving past since season opened.

As it stands, a favorite deer that has provided countless hours of viewing pleasure is gone. There is a remote possibility that she will yet return, but she never missed a day of putting in an appearance in the past, so it seems likely that she is gone forever.

Road hunting was one of the most common violations, which I encountered in my years as a Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer.

For more Camera Critters photos, click Here!

Camera Critters: The Rut Winds Down

The whitetail mating season, or rut, usually peaks around the middle of November, but in recent years has often continued through Thanksgiving week and into Pennsylvania's rifle deer season, which brings it to a screeching halt.

This November was colder than those in the recent past and in fact temperatures were probably more in line with what they should be for this area. This resulted in the rut seeming to come to an abrupt end at the beginning of the week. Mature bucks were still looking for does on Sunday-at least the one in the photo below was- until he heard the frantic clicking of the 30-Ds' shutter.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4

On Monday morning I photographed a 7-point which was still pursuing does, but since then I have seen only small bucks in Pennsylvania. The yearlings that I see on a regular basis, that have not yet dispersed from the herd, are less aggressive, and are more interested in feeding than chasing does. While it is certainly still possible to see a mature buck chasing does, with each passing day it becomes less and less likely.

Canon 30-D: 500mmF4

The same held true for Virginia when we traveled to Shenandoah National Park on Wednesday morning. We did see some large bucks by the roadside before day as we were driving to Big Meadows and saw a large buck with a broken right main beam after daylight.

Canon 40-D: 70-200mm f2.8

These animals were not chasing does, but were concentrating on feeding and regaining weight so they might better face the winter months to come.

For more animal photos, click Here.