The seasonal habits of whitetail deer have always been of interest to me---they move from herds to single animals and then back to herds again. We are now in the reforming period which will continue into fall.
In spring (April) the herd breaks up as the doe begin to have their fawns. They remain alone with their fawns until mid to late July when they begin to regroup. At the cottage we have a pair of twins (there is an apparent genetic thing in that area that results in a high occurrence of twins). The cottage is "deeep in the forest"---so our yard is like a playground for them. They run, jump, and chase each other back and forth while mom seems to be above it all and continues to eat. Soon they will be joined by other "kids" for more playmates.
At home the herd seems to grow almost daily. Thursday night there were six doe, four fawns and one very big buck with an excellent rack--still in velvet. That buck may stay with those does through the rut in fall---and beyond. The young buck will hang out with each other hoping to make a score. The old man will see to it that does not happen! After the rut they will tend to join the herd until the following spring.
They are now back to feeding heavily in the grass field below the barn. They had been eating in the corn and beans in June and July but now that the corn is high and the beans less inviting they are back to the grass.
As a side note, at the cottage the bears will start feeding on the corn in a few weeks as the ears fill out. They are pigs about that---they roll around on the corn, knocking down big patches, and then eat until they are full---then wonder off with a lot of uneaten corn ruined and left behind.
There are too few bears down here to make much of an impact---other than to the TV news stations!:rolleyes2:
