Deer are amazing creatures to watch!  During the fall, buck will stake out territory by scraping the ground, rubbing their antlers on small trees and leaving plentiful scent reminders. 

In the spring, a pregnant doe will generally remain with her herd or family until she gets close to her delivery time.  At that time, she will separate from the other deer and stake out her own territory to give birth.  And there’s good reason for that. After birth is a very dangerous time for both the mother and fawn.  The smell of the afterbirth is a powerful attractant to many predators in the woods—bear, fox, and others.  So once a doe gives birth, she immediately cleans the young fawn as best she can, and then gets it moving.    She needs to find a place to safely hide the fawn and will only return to feed it several times a day. 

Once a doe finds an area she feels safe in, and can find food and water nearby, she generally returns to that spot to give birth year after year.  We have several doe who use the area around our house as birthing areas.  There is the pond and some grass, but mostly trees and brush so tiny deer can hide safely while the doe can eat and still be close enough to her baby should she sense danger.

After a few weeks, the doe will introduce her young to us. She’ll allow herself and her fawn to be seen in the open, giving the other fawns a chance to play and run together. Mostly they stay hidden until the does are around, but there are some that can’t wait to explore on their own.

Last spring, a few doe had twins and several of them loved to lay on the well hill in front of the garden fence basking in the sunshine.

It’s these 3 particular deer we’ve been watching all winter.  We believe it’s them because they are not startled by seeing us.  They watch, definitely, but they don’t run. They’ve adopted this as their home and us as part of it.  The 3 are constantly together.  Except for the last 2 days.   The larger one is missing and we see her by herself down below the big pine tree.  She comes out from the treeline…eats some grass or weeds, lays in the sun for a while and then retreats.  Too early for her to give birth, but I believe she’s already claiming her spot!