I am going as fast as I can

by Kym Backland

Title

I am going as fast as I can

Artist

Kym Backland

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As I am driving down the highway, I see this Mother trying to get her baby out of the road. The Mother is really pushing the baby Bambi with her nose on Bambi' s ear, as I did the "drive-by shooting" from the car window, I looked back to see the Mother really giving Bambi, more than a nudge.. she was really giving her the "get along little doogie" routine. So cute. I'm glad I didn't hit them with my car. That's always so scary. Here is some information on these deer. There is also a great show I just saw on PBS called THE PRIVATE LIVES OF DEER... excellent show.. Now for some details...
Blacktail Deer � Odocoileus hemionus columbianus Blacktail deer may be Washington's most graceful mammal. They are much smaller than Roosevelt elk, and may be seen just about anywhere within Olympic National Park, from subalpine forests and meadowlands down to river valleys. Blacktail deer are considered a subspecies of mule deer, which are common throughout much of the West. They are also closely related to the white-tailed deer, well-known throughout the eastern and Midwestern U.S. Blacktail deer are particularly common on the edges of forests where there is adequate shelter and ample meadowland. They are often spotted grazing in mountain meadows at dawn and dusk. These graceful creatures are prominent members of the wildlife community.Blacktail deer feed on different types of grasses, lichens, plants, and sometimes berries.Not threatenedTwo forms of black-tailed deer or blacktail deer that occupy coastal temperate rainforests in the Pacific Northwest are subspecies of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). They have sometimes been treated as a species, but virtually all recent authorities maintain they are subspecies. The Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) is found in western North America, from Northern California into the Pacific Northwest and coastal British Columbia. The Sitka deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) is found coastally in British Columbia, Southeast Alaska and Southcentral Alaska (as far as Kodiak Island).Black-tailed deer once lived at least as far east as Wyoming. In Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail, an eyewitness account of his 1846 trek across the early West, while within a two-day ride from Fort Laramie, Parkman writes of shooting what he believes to be an elk, only to discover he has killed a black-tailed deer.The black-tailed deer is currently common in northern California, western Oregon, Washington, in coastal and interior British Columbia, and north into the Alaskan panhandle. It is a popular game animal.This species thrives on the edge of the forest, as the dark forest lacks the underbrush and grasslands the deer prefers as food, and completely open areas lack the hiding spots and cover it prefers for harsh weather. One of the plants that black-tailed deer browse is western poison oak, despite its allergen content.This deer often is most active at dawn and dusk, and is frequently involved in collisions with automobiles. Deer are browsers. During the winter and early spring, they feed on Douglas-fir, western red cedar, red huckleberry, salal, deer fern, and lichens growing on trees. Late spring to fall, they consume grasses, blackberries, fireweed, pearly everlasting, forbs, salmonberry, salal, and maple. The mating or 'rutting' season occurs during November and early December. Bucks can be observed running back and forth across the roads in the pursuit of does. After the rut, the bucks tend to hide and rest, often nursing wounds. They suffer broken antlers, and have lost weight. They drop their antlers between January and March. Antlers on the forest floor provide a source of calcium and other nutrients to other forest inhabitants. Bucks regrow their antlers beginning in April through to August. The gestation period for does is six to seven months, with fawns being born in late May and into June. Twins are the rule, although young does often have only single fawns. Triplets can also occur. Fawns weigh 2.7 to 4 kg and have no scent for the first week or so. This enables the mother to leave the fawn hidden while she goes off to browse and replenish her body after giving birth. She must also eat enough to produce enough milk to feed her fawns. Although does are excellent mothers, fawn mortality rate is 45 to 70%. Does are very protective of their young and humans are viewed as predators. Deer communicate with the aid of scent and pheromones from several glands located on the lower legs. The metatarsal (outside of lower leg) produces an alarm scent, the tarsal (inside of hock) serves for mutual recognition and the interdigital (between the toes) leave a scent trail when deer travel. Deer have excellent sight and smell. Their large ears can move independently of each other and pick up any unusual sounds that may signal danger. At dawn and dusk and moonlit nights, deer are seen browsing on the roadside. Wooded areas with forests on both sides of the road and open, grassy areas, i.e. golf courses, attract deer. Caution when driving is prudent because often as one deer crosses, another one or two follow.

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May 18th, 2013

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