Antler shed season!

I wrote Saturday about King Frederick's deer shed adventure. I try to write about my adventures sequentially, but the deer shed was epic. I can't wait to go show my two clients! 

These are the last photos of the bucks, a few days before when they all had antlers.

bucks Jan. 20 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Jan. 21st, On of the Princes turned up (Harry?) with a split in his ear, and no antlers.

 

buck shed from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I poked my head outdoors Saturday at 7 a.m., and heard several coyotes yipping away beyond the forest in the wetland. The doe in the yard didn't seem too worried about it.

coyotes pee from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I trudged down to the trailcams Saturday, and found some trailcam action.

 

deer run from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Sun., Jan. 28th, I noticed Prince William has lost an antler.

The weather has been awful, with rain, freezing rain, and the critters haven't been out much.

 

fisher Jan 19 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We call the Momma and twins (Fuzzy, and the other one, a male) the Trio.

deer trio from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters

 As I have said, it is deer shed season. The bucks' testosterone lowers in the cold and without nourishing food. They don't need the antlers to fight much, since they have already established themselves as boss. 

I moved the trailcam out the kitchen window to see if I could capture the coyotes on the lawn. Silly me. Look what happened!

JB yelled at me from the kitchen, 'You're going to want to see this. Bring your camera!'

Here is King Frederick. He was down to one antler. He shook his head, and off it popped right before my very eyes! I wish I'd had my videocamera!

Good hubby went out to fetch it for us! At this point, the driveway was sheer ice.

I ran out to the garage to watch!

I thought this side was a 7-point, but on closer inspection, there are 8 points.

My friend, Justin Hoffman, a professional photographer and wildlife writer, has taught me a lot about finding deer sheds. He has a massive collection. He wanted a photo of my antler to show his buds, and sent me a photo of his collection! He makes epic videos, as well. He has given me much advice on setting up trailcams.

Lest you think I ignore the females, Jan. 23rd I noticed the doe out front under the feeders. She walked right by me on the sidewalk. 

 

Doe on the sidewalk! from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I even got her on the Crumbly Acres camera!

doe walkies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

After this I headed out to the back 40 to look for the other antler, but it was way too icy and a horrible walk. I gave up. The trees were covered in ice, branches droopy.

 Heading down the driveway to check for mail, wearing my boots with ice pics, I fell! It was funny and harmless as I fell in the snow bank.

Here they are with the last videos of them with antlers!

morning munchies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Jan. 18 deer crew from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Deer shed hunt

 I haven't been lucky since 2015. I wasn't confident. I am grateful for 2015, when a crew of 5 bucks left me antlers. The largest weighs 457 grams. Isabelle said that it must be like a loose tooth, since they shake off, as if it is irritating them.

Richard skips by the trailcam.

Richard Deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

His antlers are most beautiful.

Richard deer Jan 14 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

With great excitement, JB noticed that Richard Deer didn't have his antlers Tuesday morning, Jan. 24th. With a storm on the way (20 cm?), I knew I had limited time to find it.

With his antlers gone, the way we can tell it is him by his behaviour (bossy), and the scar of his hurt shoulder, which seems to have healed somewhat.

With a storm coming Wednesday, I knew I'd best get out and get going. 

I followed the deer tracks along the edge of the wetland. You can see it has melted at the edges. Not a good sign.

I found lots of places where the critters sheltered under snow-laden branches.

Circling around the shoreline, I approached the point. Can you see Clover, the doe (below, left)? They are greatly camouflaged in the forest. She is the dark spot, sitting in her deer bed. She and her fawn bedded there. I like finding deer beds, and tracking the critters. 

Ofttimes they dig the beds out some, you can see where their hind legs create an impression in the snow.

It's pretty wet on the wetland, as you can see. They sink into the slush.

Here, the coyotes scraped away the moss for some reason. Their tracks are everywhere.

In years past I'd be walking out here on our property. It just isn't frozen enough for safe passage. We get a break on our property taxes for keeping the wetland property as is, since it is provincially significant wetland, and for lot #3 we pay about $100 in taxes. It is such a beautiful habitat, how could we not protect it?

I kept on following the deer paths, looking for fresh ones from today. The deer tracks lead me here. I had to go around, as the branches blocked me. The deer just slip under and I have to be careful. Hooray for bright orange fungus, a wee spot of colour.

Finally, some evidence of blood. I found nothing else in an hour and a half. It came from a track that leads across the wetland to our island. There is no way I can trust the deer path. I led hubby astray in the spring one year, March, 2012! We both had soakers. The wetland isn't that deep, but who needs a soaker?! Last week, a 69-year-old drowned snowmobiling on Six Mile Lake near Georgian Bay. 

I kept going, and found nothing more. Clover and her fawn were the most excitement for the 90-minute trek. 

Home again, Cinnamon's tracks!

Twas good exercise!

showshoeing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I haven't gone snowshoeing in awhile. The wetland is too wet. The deer paths are lovely to follow. My massage therapist posted an opening due to a cancellation, and I took advantage. 

I rested that night. I really enjoyed the 3-part Stonehouse series that evening. It is based on a true story, and we were first horrified at the plot, but laughed and laughed. I was pretty sore, and not from laughing. The Brits sure can put on a show!

I have some shoveling to do today. I'll need some coffee, a hearty breakfast, and my snowblower! And it is still snowing. 

Wetland walkies: Feb. 10

What a difference a day makes!
   

THIS is the season for wetland walkies. Here is the motivation for it... our buck has lost an antler. JB called me to the kitchen window.

After

Before


Off I went: backpack with water bottle, old GPS, video camera and camera.



I found several deer beds, but no blood spots or antlers.



It was snowing just a bit.



I recognized our 'point' on the one edge of our property.



It was a good hour and 26 minutes. It wasn't fast going, but the snowshoes were awesome. I didn't find any antlers, but I did spot some white-throated sparrows. This is an archive photo from 2018.
If you listen to the video, you can hear their excited twitters. They are so quick!



I headed back and picked up the trailcam memory cards. Not much action.

wetland walkies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I'm glad I took the GPS, as I went in a circle. It's quite old, the GPS, and too old to update the maps. I could still upload my track. I just can't see where I went on the track. The maps show up, partly, on the GPS itself.

I did a circle, accidentally. All deer tracks, eventually, lead back to our house! I was tracking them, and found snowshoe tracks!