Deer feeding allows us to share our outdoor space with some of nature’s most interesting animals, it has added richness to our lives.
From our observation of white tail deer, we have insight on their genetic traits, enlightenment from watching them live as a family and viewing first hand how their "pecking order" is carried out.
In their domain, an injured deer is not tolerated,they usually try to chase out a wounded deer.
We are able to distinguish many deer by their markings, some deer families have dark faces or rat faces, and others have white rings around their eyes. Some have white socks or white legs. There are the "Browns" who are almost totally brown minus distinctive markings.
On their necks it is not unusual for a deer to not have a white "bib". We have been careful in examining a deer for that characteristic, and we feel that only half of them have bibs. (Not quite like many pictures always having a buck with a white bib.)
The "Brown" family are very much like "Swiss cows", they are an extremely docile deer. The brown does are the only mothers we have seen that let their young eat before they do. They have been our sweetest deer and sometimes have become too trusting.
The "Rat" family are the larger of the groups, but alas they are not a very pretty deer, just as their name states. Most have white bibs and being a larger deer they are more aggressive.
We are entertained by the fawns running and jumping into the air, the bucks practice their sparring in our yard and that can become quite exciting to see.
The deer make our day, and we look forward to their return in the Fall. We usually feed them from late October to early May.
The food is a special grain mix with molasses, some alfalfa and they enjoy all sorts of fruit and veggies.
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