First Road Trip

Goldtanker

Goldtanker

Joined
Oct 22, 2004
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Every year about this time the moms bring the kids up into the mowed part of the property to show them where the food and water is located and where they can be safe. They also introduce them to Mr. Man and explain that he is the strange creature that provides food for the long winter. A few years ago this doe made the same trip as a fawn. They are hard to photograph because they don't stop moving. They really like to chase each other around on the grass because they can't run like that through the thick woods. This behavior is visibly stressful for mom. I purposely kept this photo with the blur to show the rapid and constant movement of the fawns and also mom's head as she looks around for problems. The grandkids (mine that is) are coming this week and they always get a kick out of this activity. :D

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Very nice. You must have a good-sized piece of land.

There are a lot of young ducks starting to swim for the first time also at this time of year. They can't fly yet of course, and don't swim very fast, so they have high mortality rates. I believe that snapping turtles will go after them, and even large fish, like muskie.

Last weekend, I saw a mink chasing after a hen Mallard and her brood. I often see mink along the shore and in the shallows, but I had never seen one so far out on the open water. The hen raised a ruckus, quacking and splashing, which distracted the mink. It followed after her, and she would let it get just within reach, then fly a few feet and repeat. Eventually, she led it far down the shore, then flew back to her brood. She only had 5 though, rather than the usual 8 - 12, so I'm guessing a few didn't make it.
 
We have a large field behind the town hall, in the middle of a suburban community, with some houses alongside the field. I've seen deer in nearby woods along the trail by the field, but one day last summer I saw two does with a fawn each leap out of one backyard, back onto and across the field, between the First Aid squad and the basketbal courts, and into the woods behind the tennis courts. No fear. :D
 
Wow thats a cool pic of the fox.:thumbup:

I hardly ever see them in actual photos from people.
 
Had a fox here last year who would take afternoon naps on my lawn . He removed all mice,squirrels,woodchucks ,chipmunks and probably a bunch of birds [though grey fox really take lots of birds as they are good climbers].
 
Yup, everything has to get their groceries somehow. There's multiple lives at stake on all sides, so I never intervene in these things unless it's unnatural, like a cat or feral dog.

Goldtanker - great pics as always.
 
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