White-tailed Deer grazing along the boardwalk...

If you're walking the boardwalk at Maumee Bay State Park in Toledo, OH, you're bound to see a few White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the woods. We saw a doe with her fawn several time while we were there...

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn along the boardwalk at Maumee Bay. 

The vibrissae (feelers or whiskers) around a deer's eyes look like giant eye lashes. A deer does have upper eyelashes, but not lower eyelashes; however, the beautiful vibrissae extend three to four inches from above and below the eye. They function, just like in cats and dogs, as feelers to help the animal feel its way around by warning it that something is near its face. Deer have vibrissae on the chin and by the nose as well. Vibrissae are embedded deep in the skin and are surrounded by sensitive touch neurons. In addition to warning the animal of an object's proximity, vibrissae seem to help with identifying objects.

A male fawn (six months old or younger) is called a button buck. If you look in front of his ears, you'll notice a "button" on each side. These are where his antlers will grow next year.

The boardwalk at Maumee Bay State Park and Lodge. Deer can be spotted near the boardwalk as you stroll through the woods. 

Mama deer sees me while her button buck continues to graze.

While reading about White-tailed Deer, I learned the White-tailed Deer is the state animal of Ohio. It was designated our official animal in 1988. For all of the state symbols, click here.

A White-tailed Deer fawn and doe graze in the afternoon sun.

Camouflage and a little grass bed kept this doe out of view. I only saw her because the Golden-crowned Kinglet I was photographing (in the photo below) dove down into the grasses by the deer's hiding spot. 

If I had not been following this tiny kinglet I never would have seen the deer. When I lost sight of bird, I moved the lens to the right, and the deer from the previous photo popped into view!

White-tailed Deer Grazing from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

I took these photos on Nov 4, 2013.

For more information:

Deer Facts
Click here for "How to Tell a Doe From a Button Buck," by Jane Maggitt
Click here for "White-tailed Wonders," by W.H. (Chip) Gross, ODNR

Vibrissae
Click here for an excellent source that explains "Vibrissal behavior and function," by Tony J. Prescott.
Click here for a more simplified description of vibrissae in an article in Psychology Today titled, "Why do Dogs Have Whiskers?" by Stanley Coren, PH.D.
Click here for an even more simplified description of "How do whiskers work?" by Steve Harris at Discover Wildlife.

Deer Vision
Click here for a description of a visual capabilities study at the University of Georgia, "Investigation of Visual Abilities of White-tailed Deer."
Click here for "Ask the Deer Biologist" for an answer to the question, "What colors of light can whitetails see?"(Pennsylvania Game Commission)

Early morning visitor

...this morning while we were waiting for Matty's bus, I looked up from my desk to find a deer standing in the front yard. If I lived in the woods, it would be expected, but I live in the suburbs. Unfortunately for the deer, it's not that unusual anymore to find them in the suburbs...

...outside my office window a White-tailed Deer studies the street...

...she moved to the back yard, so I snuck out to photograph her (...barefoot and in my PJs. The ground was wet and muddy...squish!).

...running to my neighbor's yard.

...beautiful.

(All of these "nice" grass shots are in my neighbor's yard. Our lawn is more natural...(weeds!)...but the birds like it!)

The Curious Fawn

On Tuesday afternoon I went to the Little Miami Trail to photograph a rusted railroad Position Signal Matty, Rick and I had found on Sunday (more about that in a future post). The artifact was located at the bottom of a steep incline leading to the lowland forest. When I got to the bottom, a family of white-tailed deer was foraging about 50 feet away. Two adult females and two fawns looked up at me. They didn't seem to mind and went back to eating...except for one fawn. She was the most curious little thing! Every time she heard the click of the camera's shutter she came closer to me...her ears would prick up and she would prance! After a while I walked away, going further into the lowlands to see if my movement would scare her away. I didn't think it was good for her to be so friendly toward me; however, it didn't scare her away. Instead, she followed me like it was a game. She'd trot away a few feet and then get low and sneak back to me...all the time coming closer and closer. Eventually I started talking to her, telling her I didn't think she should come any closer because her mama might not like it! At her closest she was probably about two feet from me being able to reach out and pet her. Fun...but not good (and probably not safe either), so I turned the other direction and walked away through noisy leaves. That caused the mama to trot off, and the other female and fawns followed. The nosey little fawn, however, looked back. If three barking Springer Spaniels had not come racing down the trail with their owners, I think she would have come back to me, but the spaniels were relentless with their alarm, so the deer took off in the other direction and were gone in a flash of white tails.

The curious fawn--a young White-tailed Deer wanted to play! I completely fell in love with her...and she with me it seemed!

She's looking back at her mama here...checking in!

Maybe she was so friendly because I was down in the lowlands--her territory. In 21 years living near the Little Miami Trail, I had never ventured down to that spot (and I'd never seen anyone else there either). Up on the trail, when the deer cross through, they are never that brave. Hopefully our little fawn looses her trusting nature because someone might be shooting her with something besides a camera one of these days...

...someone is watching me!

Walking along the Little Miami River the other day, I was surprised when I glanced to my right to find this sweet fawn looking directly at me! Usually I hear white-tailed deer before I see them. Snapping twigs or the rustling of leaves on branches often announce them as they lightly make their way down well-worn hillside trails, never slipping, cautious and gorgeous, but sometimes a rhythmic dull thudding rises up from the lowlands beside the river, and I catch them running, their hooves pounding into the compacted and decaying leaves beneath them as they rush through—which is always the best! Watching a small family race through the green leaves, bounding over rivulets or fallen branches is spellbinding, but this encounter was pretty cool too. I have no idea how long the fawn had been watching me. She wasn’t afraid. Just curious it seemed. Eventually her mom and another fawn came up behind her and then they moved on, but she was last. After the other two past, she slowly turned and went with them.

A perfect, tiny little fawn in my parent’s yard

Last week we were eating dinner on my parent's screened-in porch when a female White-tailed Deer peeked in at us with startled eyes. She was standing no more than five feet from us, which wouldn't be unusual if you lived in the country or in the suburbs where developers had just ripped through a forest, destroying their homes, but we were in the city in an established neighborhood with lovely sidewalks, big trees, and usually no deer. When we got up to look closer, we found mama had a fawn with her--a tiny little thing maybe a foot and a half tall at the shoulder (if that). This perfect little spotted creature looked and acted so much like Bambi I could hardly stand it! Apparently mama was looking for a safe place for her baby, but after seeing all of us ogling her from the porch decided the front yard was safer so returned with the newly born fawn to finish off the geraniums. Mama also seemed to like violets and roses (but then don't we all?)  

A beautiful White-tailed Deer on the Little Miami Bike Trail

As I was watching a Red-eyed Vireo forage and sing in the spring leaves above my head, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. When I turned, two young White-tailed Deer were picking their way across the trail about 200 feet in front of me. Because of the abundance of Red-eyed Vireos on the Little Miami Bike Trail, I knew I could easily find this guy or one of his many buddies on the way back, so I abandoned the sweet-faced vireo to chase the beautiful whitetails instead. 

The second White-tailed Deer stops to eat 

dandelion greens before going into the woods.

I walked quietly, but really didn't anticipate seeing them. I was sure they already would have slipped down their well-worn trail and deeper into the woods, but sometimes they lingered by the path, so maybe if I moved quickly... She saw me before I saw her, but she seemed more curious than frightened. She continued to munch green leaves as I started shooting the camera. After every few clicks, I'd slowly move forward. She didn’t get nervous, just wary  every now and then. Eventually, she turned around and huffed into the woods. I don't know if she was full, bored, or scared. The sound of her hooves on the forest floor were solid as she took off. It’s a great sound…

Look at the eyelashes on this sweetie!

(click photo to enlarge)

"What are you doing there?" she seemed to be thinking.

"Okay...I'm bored. See ya!" and then she bounded away.