I saw Tigger and his twin brother. His twin (still needs a name!) has shed his antlers. Tigger has not.I can tell who is who by their behaviour. Tigger is clearly alpha. He won't tolerate any other buck feeding while he is feeding. His brother is the exception. They are the same size.
I walked some yesterday and didn't see any evidence of antlers. The coyotes pick them up, I'm sure, which is only fair! It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. The coyotes are active. We heard them barking about a month ago in the back 40. I don't know if they caught something.
The year I found 6 antlers, they were on the ground, with a lot of blood spots, and were shaken off just after they arose, judging by the blood spatter and the deer bed locations. I think their circadian rhythms led to the drop in testosterone.
Daisy and I walked an hour in the wetland, but couldn't find any sheds. She followed me quite eagerly. It's quite frozen now.
Daisy was happier on a grassy knoll! I tried to carry her, but she got totally ticked off and jumped down.
The photo with his tongue out is Tigger's brother.
One buck has a strange antler situation. He's broken one off, the other has some breakage, too. It flops, and I'm sure he'll be happier when this antler goes!
These first two photos are my favourite photos of Tigger and his bro, from a couple of years ago. You can see Tigger lost his first that year.
6 comments:
Beautiful deer. You don't need a TV with all the natural entertainment in your back yard.
Funny how you recognize them from other deer
A couple more weeks, and those antlers will all be gone.
It's very rare that you find an antler. there are many critters out there that would gladly chew on an antler.
i like that you care enough to know them, take interest in them. that is so very sweet!!! great pictures, i would love to have deer in my back yard!!!
I find it so interesting that you have been able to follow the progress of Tigger and his brother over the years. How satisfying!
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