wildlife

Yesterday Phoebe-dog inadvertantly spooked the doe and a fawn from the bushes. The fawn streaked off to the west, Phoebe and I came in the house, and DOEreen stalked the cat. Dawson-cat had not left the steps and was not about to relinquish his space. DOEreen took one step closer then turned and walked slowly away. When I opened the door, Dawson leapt up from his crouched position and dashed back inside. These aren't the greatest pictures but give me a break! They were taken through the antique glass windows of the kitchen!

DOEreen looks a bit scruffy. She probably has ticks, oh joy, plus she is shedding. No doubt wormy too. She should be plump from eating all my shrubbery. To tell the truth, I don't for sure know if this is DOEreen or her yearling. Would a yearling help protect a fawn? I don't know the social structure of deer. Can't see an udder, but then an udder wasn't visable on the doe last year and I know for a fact she had a fawn.

She does not run from me but other than giving her her space, I have deliberately tried not to "tame" her. She will stand as close as 50' away and watch me intently. Wild animals should remain so. They just get into trouble when they learn to trust humans. Never trust a human!
This morning's surprise was the sudden return of Peabody, the peahen, and a white Bantam rooster who'd run away from home years ago. Peabody left in March, right after the last of the banty hens became a late night snack for a raccoon. I rather suspected that she had headed north, lured by the siren call of banty roosters at a neighbor's place. That would also be the place to which ran (flew) this white rooster...3 or 4 years ago, at least! He'd been penned with others but figured out how to escape...and then vanish. A few weeks later the neighbor came down to ask if I was missing a rooster. Or was it months? Anyhow, he's back. He is looking for hens and she is looking for a peacock. We have one lined up for her but need to catch her to get her to him. I wonder how tame the peacock is. Maybe his owners could bring him over and we could lure her into a truck, or trailer or cage with him. I wouldn't mind getting a hen for the rooster except, if memory serves me, that's how I ended up with 13 roosters and 12 hens 9 years ago! Besides, I don't wish to anger the neighbors. I hope they stay long enough to clean up the snail population which has been growing since the poultry left.