Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Animal Behavior: Lovesick Buck

In this particularly mild winter in San Antonio the whitetail deer in our neighborhood seem confused.  The deer rut or mating season occurred as usual last fall.  We saw all the activity among the local herd, and then they formed bachelor herds which occurs when there is no competition among the bucks.  This bachelor herd walked through last week.  The new fawns should be showing up soon.


Over the weekend we noticed a couple of bucks looked injured as if they had been fighting which seemed odd at this time of year.

This buck was limping and missing an antler which can occur naturally in the spring or the females could have literally kicked him out.  Either way, he apparently wanted to be hand fed which we do not do.  He did pick through some fresh trimmings in the compost pile.


A few days later this large buck chased a doe through the front yard.  Thinking he had her cornered between houses and against the fence he eagerly awaited her return.  Deer in our area can mate in early spring depending on weather and availability of food but generally it's all at the same time.


 Anticipation....



She had other ideas though and turned around, jumped the fence, and headed for the woods across the creek.


Eventually he tired of waiting and began to search.  DH found this particularly funny, I have no idea why.




 
First the neighbor's back yard.


Then our yard along the south side of the garage.


 Checking the fence carefully where she went over.


Then back to the neighbor's yard again.  Hmmm, where did she go?



Hey there buddy.  What are you looking for?



I'm in our back yard now hoping to catch him jumping over the fence.  It seems he figured out she gave him the slip and he exited the scene by way of the driveway and down the street.




Just another day in the neighborhood.

17 comments:

  1. How exciting to see so much activity in your garden! At least they weren't eating your plants. (Rock, Oak, more rocks.) You probably can't grow a lot of plants that deer find attractive.

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    1. The deer have been around quite a bit lately. I find it best to stick with plants they don't like. Fortunately I have a large deck for container plants like succulents and they haven't learned to climb stairs yet!

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  2. He was annoyingly persistent, wasn't he? I'm glad she figured out a way to give her unwanted suitor the slip. You got some good shots and a funny story out of it!

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    1. The digital camera makes it so easy to click away. It was fun to watch and funny too.

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  3. WOW!!!! I feel sad for the injured deer. I think I'd have to open up a deer rescue if I lived there. They are such beautiful animals.

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    1. They are so numerous that we don't worry too much about them and that one should be fine.

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  4. Oh, my....deer jumping over the fence. I know they easily can. But, that might just send me over the edge....lol
    We haven't seen any extra mating games going on here. But, I'm sure we'll soon be seeing more little mouths to feed.
    I've never found any of those antlers they drop around here. They must have a hiding place for them. The least they could do, is drop me an antler, while they're devouring my landscape.

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    1. I've only found one dropped in all the time I've been looking too. I should have pointed out the dent in the top of the fence where they go over almost every night.

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  5. The entertainment value of these marauders almost compensates for their evil ways. The spurned suitor is a handsome fellow.

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    1. He's a 10-point and that's rare. We mostly see 8 or less.

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  6. The deer and the palms are surreal - my favorite shots!

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    1. Hadn't thought of it that way. He's walking right by the palms isn't he?

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  7. I enjoyed the buck antics in this post. Nice sequence of captures. At the tree nursery where I work, there is both wild and hand reared deer. Mating season is always a fun time, yet by now, they usually have found their mate.

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    1. Deer are surprisingly tame when they've been exposed to humans and quite the opposite out in the country. Mating season can get pretty wild because they fight and get hit by cars.

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  8. Unbelievable how close they get to all the houses! I'm just amazed! We see them here - but they keep a distance from our home. Poor thing. I feel sorry for the poor lovesick lad. And I had never heard of bachelor herds. Will have to look at ours a little closer the next time I see them.

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    1. Urban deer are a common sight in our neighborhood and many other places around town. It's not unusual to see them napping on a front lawn or walking up the middle of the street.

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  9. How wonderful that you managed to capture it all in photos. Fabulous stuff. I hope he had better luck later on, lol!

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