Clover and friends

I was looking at the conditions on the frogpond. It has melted, thawed, then refrozen. Today it is - 13˚ C., with possible freezing rain, and 10 - 15 cm predicted. I shoveled the sidewalk, after 3 cm yesterday. We shall see what happens! I gave the birds extra rations, as they usually know a storm is coming. I found a mice friend in the sunflower seed bin! 

As always, you need not watch the whole clip, I try to choose the best thumbnail, but the behaviour always fascinates me and JB likes to see them!

forest mouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Busted! I took him out of the garage, and hoped for the best.

This is the pond, which has since frozen, and been covered in that snow.

There was a doe on the pond. It had to be Clover. The others would hightail it.

Along she came, as I headed back up to the house. She is the only one who sticks around all summer. You can clearly spot the bare skin on her back. Perhaps a difficult meeting with fence wire. 

This was from the frogpond, just after our melt.

 

deer in the wetland from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Feb 15, 23. This was Clover and another doe. It's not her fawn, I don't think, as it was aggressive.

clover from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

She walked parallel to me, across the meadow. This is where I've put the frogpond trailcam, which hasn't had much action. She waited for me and watched me check it. 

Back up at the house, where she met me, I gave her a spoonful of food! She is not tame, she just knows that I feed her. When the men came to check out my wonky reclining chair, they didn't like the strange car, and took off. Some sort of situational awareness. 

deer bad leg from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Feb. 18, tough going in the snow.

breakfast deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We buy MNR-recipe feed from our feed store. Clover was waiting for hubby to feed her. In the background (48 sec.), you can see our doe with the sprained leg. Feb.18/23

On the way down to the forest, lots of tracks.

coyote tracks from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The coyotes were busy. We are near, or just past mating season, I've read. Feb. 18/23

Sure enough, there they are. From the night before.

coyotes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Watch for the first one, way in the back. Feb. 17/23

Maggie: Broken-legged deer video

We usually have one deer each season with a broken leg. This one has managed a long time. I first spotted her on Sept. 27th.Maggie, the dear deer.  We had a coyote kill in the depths of winter. Busy times in the forest I figured it was her, but she is still around.

These are trailcam images. Momma had twins. They have survived.
 She's quite unafraid of us. This is fine, as the others have dispersed to the deep forest, where munching is better. We seldom see them in the summer.

I heard, and saw, a buck killed on the highway. There was another one we were told about late in March.

She waits for food, which we are glad to give her. The grass isn't growing, yet. I have no hostas to donate to the cause! They love my hosta!

Broken leg deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Hunting season rolls around again...

UPDATE:

Paramedics make dramatic bush rescue after hunter falls from tree stand https://t.co/W2KUchqGWi

— OntarioMedic (@OntarioMedic) November 16, 2016

Aug. 30th

It's hunting season in our county. I'm a meat eater, but it does make me sad.

It scares me, as I still have a low startle reflex after my trials and tribulations caring for my parents. Hubby always tells me if he is going to use the handvac! The noise startles me. I begin a panic attack.

I spotted the fawn's spots Sept. 3rd: Deer and twin fawns, and they were so cute. They stuck to the forest all summer.

Hunting in Muskoka
involves boats!

A neighbour (owning 600 acres), planning on hunting this week, informed another neighbour, who told us. Good to be prepared. They use dogs, and sometimes the dogs get away on them. It is a nice courtesy. It's quite the culture around here.

Deer hunting season began Monday and Lanark County had its first incident! We'll see what toll the season brings. There are a lot of people out hunting, most manage to do it safely!

Hunters require a licence

The Ottawa Citizen snickered:
Within hours of deer season opening, a hunter accidentally shot himself in Lanark.

Spencerville man accidentally shoots himself, but is OK after driving to hospital

Nov 07, 2016. Members of the Lanark County Ontario Provincial police detachment are investigating a hunting accident that happened on Monday, Nov. 6, 2016. A 39-year-old man from Spencerville was hunting when he sustained a gunshot injury after his firearm...

Sat., Nov. 5th

I think one twin is male, the other female. ( The one has antler buds.)



She turned up, again, Tuesday, Nov. 8th.  She's managing. I just snapped a photo as the babes bounced across the gully!


We usually have one deer each season with a broken leg. This one has managed a long time. I first spotted it on Sept. 27th. Momma has twins. They are old enough to survive.
Broken leg from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Poor Bambi: harding walking on that icy snow

The poor deer in our backyard, this is how they walk on the crusty from the ice rain. Several inches of ice, over 30 cm of snow. It is not a good mix.


Deer in the icy snow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
It's a terribly difficult to walk out in the open. Poor Bambi breaks suddenly through the snow. I fear we'll have some injured deer if this doesn't melt. Maybe we can hope for some snow on top, but the lower sections have melted.

We had a deer in our yard in April, 2011, with a broken leg. There was nothing we could do about it. Don't watch if you are squeamish.