The Tail White Ranch

Aslan shed is antlers today

I was out with the deer quite a bit today, I have been missing them because I have been working so much, I have not had the time to spend with them on the weekends like I used too. So today I spent as much time as I could out with them in the wood. It was very cute at one point because they have discovered a little water hole and they were all playing in it. I love to watch them play in the water. Anyway I was with Aslan a couple times to day, the last time was after 3:00pm I then went out to feed them at 6:00pm and Aslan came running up to me, That was a little odd in it self. Usually he just walks up to me or is already waiting when I go out, but I noticed right away. Aslan was looking very different. It just to me a moment to realize that he had lost both of his antlers. I went to put out his food then went back to the gate to put the bucket down and come back and look for his antlers. I turned around and there they both were, one by the fence the other about 3 feet away. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

What we are watching now.

Little Thunder is finally sleeping outside, having been born in October he is just getting his summer coat, but he has enough of a coat to give him a little protection from the cold now. That along with the very mild temperatures and he has spent the last couple nights outside. We have a couple shelters that we put hay down in and he seems to like them. He curls up in a little ball and little Bella usually is close by for him. those two hang out together a lot. Today Thunder was laying in one of the shelters we call the tent and Bella was walking and eating just outside the tent. When one of Thunders other friends came to see him. Bella would have none of it. she stood guard outside the tent and when Ice would approach Bella would chase her away. Its a shame really because Ice and Thunder do get along real well too, but not Bella and Ice so much. Any way Since thunder was born so late and is so out of sync with the normal development cycle of a deer his age. We are wondering how this will affect the development of his antlers. Thunders pedicles have been growing quite fast this last month. From nothing to some very pronounced bumps. Now Aslan had actually started growing antlers in the fall last year then then shed his buttons at the end of January. He didn't really start growing new antlers until probably May. Not that they weren't growing after he shed his buttons but they were not growing that fast. Then Aslan grew 10 points by August. He is not a record breaker but not a bad set of antlers for a 1 year old. So here we are near the end of February and it looks like Thunders pedicles could break through his skin very soon. He would then start growing his first set of antlers. Since he would have all summer to grow them he actually could be a spike buck by fall instead of just the buttons. So that is something I am watching for with him. The we also have Aslan. As I said last year Aslan lost his buttons on January 28th. And again we are now at the end of February and Aslan is still sporting his nice 10 point rack. Deer in captivity with good nutrition will usually shed their antlers a little later. Since Aslan was right on schedule last year I kind of expected him to repeat that this year, but by now I realize that is not going to happen and he will probably keep his antlers for a few more weeks yet. Here are the things I am going to be watching for from Aslan this year. First it will be interesting to see how much later he does shed those antlers this year. Then I am anxious to see what he grows for antlers this year. 10 points for a 1 year old is very good however, its no record and I am sure neither would be his Boone and Crockett score if he actually had one. Farm raised genetically selected deer can score over 200 inches their first year. The other problem I see with Aslan is his spread. High scoring typical deer will have a wide spread on the tips of the antlers. Aslan's tip to tip spread is about 1 inch. If they grew any longer they would have been touching. So I am really looking to see if his spread will improve at all. However I must admit that is usually a genetic trait and Aslan probably will never have a real wide tip to tip spread. Now Thunders daddy, grew a large non typical rack when he was 2 and last year was sporting about 22 points. So I think he has great potential. This fall I should be able to tell how both are going to do going forward and that will be the time to decide how I am going to go forward. I may have to see if I can get some genetics from one of those monster bucks. So follow us this summer as we follow these two and see how they are going to do this fall. Who will get the breeding rights if any?

Here are some pictures of Aslan and Thunder.

Slow time of year for the deer

After hunting season the deer generally settle down for winter. I say the deer become semi-hybernative. Obviously not hibernating but the deer reduce their activity to conserve energy. Their appetite is reduced with the reduction in activity allowing the deer to survive on much less food. This works well since in a normal winter when snow covers the ground and the trees and shrubs are bare there is far less food available to the deer. This winter however has not been normal and although the trees and shrubs are bare the ground is not covered so there is substantially more food available then normally would be. With the warmer temperatures I have also noted the deer have not been as quiet as they usually would be. Every time we get a cold snap and the temps turn a little more normal I see the deer hunker down and stay quiet during those cold days. As soon as the temps climb backup though we see the deer become more active. Anyway there is not a lot to report on during this time of the year. The fawns are not growing much so there is little change from day to day. So I thought I would report on some things a little more mundane. We have a buck fawn that was born very late. He was born in early October. He is about 5 months behind the other in their development. I am attaching a picture of him laying on the sofa. Since he was born so late he lost his spots and is now developing his red summer coat. As you can see in the picture his hair is very short and thin. This in the wild would have been fatal to him. Fortunately for him we keep him inside during the very cold times. The warm winter has helped by allowing us to put him outside for periods of time during the day when it is warmer out. Comparing his coat to the other fawns I can bury my hand in their thick fur, but for thunder the is some thin course hair but not enough to keep him warm in the real cold of winter. Again it has been beneficial for him that this winter has been so warm. Moving on now the deer were quite playful and inquisitive today. I went out side to open one of the gates to allow the deer to move into another section when Bella came running out of the woods. She was by her self and came running up to me. I was able to get a couple nice shots of her. The picture of the deer in the yard by herself is that of Bella. Bella is one of the few that holds on to her attachment to us. She still likes to come in the house and just walk around and check things out and she keeps coming up to us to get petted. She is probably our most friendly deer. It was a bit strange too that later when the others came out of the wood I played with them awhile then when I decided to come in a number of them followed me in. Most of the time they act interested in coming in but are too afraid to actually do it. Even though they were all raised inside and eventually moved outside after being weaned. But today like I said about five of them came in and walked around and checked out the area where they spend a lot of time as little fawns. A couple even came up stairs and checked out the living room for awhile. I finally had to escort them out. They did not seem interested in going back out on their own. I had to kind of push them out except for Thunder ( the one with a summer coat.) He went out on his own so I tried to get him in and the others out but they wanted in and he did not. So after a little work we finally got them out and left Thunder our. He seems to be fine today with the warmer temps. The remaining pictures are of the deer checking out the living room. A couple show how their hair stands up on their rump when they encounter something they are not familiar with. In this case they spotted my wifes cat. One thing I have found is that deer do not like cats. Thunder has grown to live with our cat but he likes to chase it around. But we have even watched deer in the wild attack cats in the field.   

pictures part 4

pictures part4

pictures part 3

More pictures.

Part 2 pictures

Happy New Year

Well we continued to fight the illnesses and after treating a couple of the fawns they all seem healthy now, and it has been over a week now. Previously we would see a relapse within a week. So far all are doing well. I finally feel we have these illnesses behind us. All the deer have been doing good for over a week now. I hope and pray it continues. The drought has been a big part of the problem with out rain and snow to clean their feces off the ground it becomes way to pass disease to the deer and also between the deer. So here we are a new year and we did get a couple inches of snow on the ground, so I thought it would be nice to go and get some pictures. There are quite a few pictures so I will upload them in a couple posts.
Here is the first set.

Still dealing with some minor illnesses but things are looking up

When I thought we had these illnesses beat, they reared their ugly head again. We have been proactive in getting some of the necessary tools and medications to keep on hand and that has helped us battle these illnesses, by attacking them early. Over all things are looking pretty good. So I went out and took a few more pictures today.

Year end round up

It was a tough year for us here at the Tail White Ranch, We lost one buck fawn to illness, we were bottle feeding 8 fawns at one time and we dealt with several instances of illness and injuries in the other deer. We also added the largest kennel yet, comprising about 6 acres. We built a shelter for a place to feed the deer and provide some shade and shelter for the deer if they wanted it. But wouldn't trade it for anything. I now have 11 beautiful deer. Reilly, our oldest deer at 6 years of age, also she was not bottle fed and therefore does not us. She comes around but keeps her distance from us. The rest of the deer we bottle fed ourselves. So like today I was out with all the deer. I spent some time with Aslan our 1.5 year old buck. He is so calm and gentle. He lets me pet him and hug him. Nina our 1.5 year old doe is also just a sweetheart. She comes up to me and I get to pet and hug her as well. But my favorites right now are the fawns we raised 7 doe fawns this summer and they are the sweetest things you have ever seen. They mostly hang out together but occasionally will split off but they are so fun. We see them come out of the woods in single file several times a day to come out and eat. They really like attention and come to me looking for a little pampering. They follow me around and kiss me play with me. Some times like this morning they start running and it is just amazing to have a bunch of deer just running circles around you. Some times and when they are all running they will occasionally run into each other. I feel so bad when that happens. But they sure do enjoy running and it is so fun to be there with them when they are all just going a little nuts. Some of them will jump and buck too. The other thing I really like is being with them in the woods when they are in their natural environment. I will just sit amongst them and watch them go about their business. And it looks like after all the troubles we had during this year, we may be able to close this year out on a positive note, it appears that we have all the deer in good health as we close this year out. It is a nice way to end the year. Her are some pictures of the herd taken today.

The orphan

Hunting season is over and we know some of the deer we had coming around won't be back. This morning we had a little fawn come around all by itself. It was coming up to the fence and checking out our deer and they were checking him out. I was out with them for awhile and he saw me and was confused. He would stomp at me but not run. He was probably wondering why all the deer were hanging around me. I had several right with me while he was out there. I finally had to leave and when I started walking away he scurried off. but it seemed to me that he found himself alone and was looking for a herd to join up with. He would have been accepted right in with ours if there was not that physical barrier (the fence). As far as the rut goes it is definitely winding down. Aslan is still being a bit of a pain as he likes to push against me with his antlers but this makes it difficult for me to get things done in is pen like taking care of his food and water. Does are generally only in estrus for about 30 hours, and we did not put Nina with Aslan until the second weekend in November. So if we missed her time she should be ready again in 28 days so we will leave Nina with Aslan through December to make sure they had a chance to breed. Thunder ( the little buck we received in early October is doing really well. He had some rough times early on but we got past that and he seem quite well now. He is really shedding and loosing his spots now but he does not have anything of a winter coat yet. Normally they would be loosing their spots in mid to late summer, and getting their winter coat in the fall, but since he was born so late he is not ready for the cold, so we are keeping him in with us this winter. The pictures below are of Thunder snoozing on the sofa next to my son, Thunder and me and finally the rest of our fawns from this year enjoying a nice warm day after we had received almost a foot of snow a few days earlier.