Deer Family of British Columbia: WHITETAIL DEER

Whitetail Deer, Odocoileus virginianus is a smaller cousin to Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus. While mule deer inhabit the Western, more mountainous parts of  North America, whitetail deer have spread throughout the entire North American and most of  South American continents thus becoming the most widely distributed ungulate species of the Western hemisphere. And while mule deer got their common name from the size of their ears, the whitetails owe it to the wide, fluffy tail that is carried upright when they feel scared or fleeing from danger. (Virginianus in their Latin name comes from being firstly described in Virginia)

The tail has a bright-white underside that is strikingly visible, especially in low-light conditions.

The white tail flag, along with other visual, vocal and olfactory means, is an part of  deer communication.

Whitetails have a language of their own - snorting, hissing and whistling sounds that they used differently in different situations.

Their scent glands, although less prominent than those of the mule deer,
play an important part as well as does their body language.

I came upon this doe and her fawn at dusk while kayaking Kootenay River. Once she figured out that I could pose a danger she gave out the typical deer snort and both of them took off.  The light was already low and their coats quickly blended into the surroundings. But their white tails shone for a while form the darkness of the forest making each one aware where the other was going.

When threatened, the whitetails take off with an elegant gallop of a race horse but when they are really scared they tend to gain advantage by making huge leaps, preferably down the hill, gaining advantage against their pursuers.

Seeing them to flee like that, at a neck-breaking pace, jumping over bushes and broken trees several meters far and couple meters high into the unknown terrain, down the hill,  always makes me wonder how come, that they do not break their delicate ankles and knees.

A small kayak on a quiet body of water  at dusk or dawn   can work wonders for a nature observer. As long as there are no sudden movements the animals do not perceive the kayak and its cargo as a threat.  

I usually set up a tripod inside my little boat (challenging, but the times of my steady-photo-hand  have vanished a long time ago). To manoeuvre between the tripod and the paddle takes some practice and more than an occasional prayer but for the most, the setup works pretty well .

The only trouble is that the vegetation can obscure the view. Nevertheless, I doubt that otherwise I would be able to get close to this buck who took up its residence among the dense bushes on a very steep river bank. He would hear and smell me way before I would ever be aware of its presence. Then he would sneak away, hide in the bush and watch me to stumble by.

The mule deer are "jumpers". Whitetails are "hiders". They are amazingly good at hiding in the underbrush and sneaking quietly away - unnoticed.

They are also much less social than mule deer and prefer to travel alone (that applies doubly for the males during the summer months.)

Just like the mule deer, the whitetails are more gray in the winter, their air-filled hair providing insulation from cold and also helping them to stand out less in the bleak winter weather.

In the summer they are more rusty brown.

Does are bred in the Fall, the fawns are born some six months later, usually May or June. When the fawns are born they can walk within a very short time. Yet, their Mom "park" them in a safe place where they lie still, their speckled bodies blending into the shade dappled undergrowth. They are nearly scentless; that making it difficult for predators to pinpoint their location. On the top of that, they do not eliminate any bodily wastes until a few weeks later - Mom then ingests everything further lowering the possibility of detection by the predators.

There is usually one fawn in tho doe's first pregnancy, the following might lead to two or rarely three young. The fawns stay speckled for about six months - they get their new one-colored coat just in time for the winter.

Last summer I sat in my kayak, parked in the dense mat of underwater vegetation by the edge of the river, silently enjoying the sunset, and the peaceful time on the river. 

Soundlessly, the trio below walked out of the forest just a few meters away from me - way too close for my long lens to focus. Argggh. I had to move - slightly - to be able to re-adjust the settings. The twins seemed to enjoy my company but Mom just stomped her foot and all of them slid back into the darkness of the ravine.

 Any north American country gardener can tell you that the whitetail deer like to eat shrubs! And things in the garden - flowers, veggies, even tomato plants! Wonderful in the evening - gone by dawn! We used to groan and say: "Why? There are grasses everywhere! Why do they have to destroy the gardens?"

The answer is fairly simple. Yes, they will eat grass but that is not their main supply of nutrients. They have GREAT cravings for salt - perhaps it has something to do with them being ruminants and needing to support all those bacteria in their complex stomachs.
I watched this deer for several evenings - every day after the sunset he walked out of the woods and took a very long walk down to the highway where salt from the winter road accumulated in the swamp.

In any case - the salts and other nutrients they need are not in the grasses - they are in buds and twigs and leaves of our precious garden trees (and the wild ones of course)! In cedar hedges especially!
All we can do to keep them away is to build a nice tall fence! (No link here - just type in "deer fence" and see how many sites you will get. Proof enough.)

So there we have it - Odocoileus virginianus - the Americas' most hunted, yet the most abundant deer. 

Hiding in shadows, thriving in cleared lands and cultivated fields. Adjusting to people, their gardens, dogs, radios, their parks, even their cities. 

Enjoying the demise of their main predators like wolves and cougars, increasing in numbers year after year. 

Cursed and cherished at the same time, taking the lowlands, leaving the higher elevations to the mule deer. 

Watching us from the shadows and, thankfully, most likely to stay with us for a very long time to come.

Deer Family of British Columbia: MULE DEER

Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus, most likely obtained their common name from the very large ears that reminded people of ears on a mule. The ears can turn independently in different direction, funneling the sounds into the sensitive hearing system. The very first indication of danger can be obtained by capturing the faintest sounds from far away.

Their winter coat is grayish-brown with white throat, rump and underbelly patches.
They have a narrow tail with a black tip and, unlike the other common species of BC deer, the Whitetail, the mule deer do not carry their tail upright when running.
Actually, when they sense danger, they more jump than run. Their stiff legged, jumping can be quite entertaining to watch. When sensing danger they jump with all four feet up in the air at the same time.





Their escape route usually leads up a hill rather than straight ahead or down. Because they are the "jumping" deer, it is easier for them to outrun (and out-kick) their predators by going UP.
This little one doesn't quite know this - he is probably still only practicing in his
"Jumping 101" course.

I am talking about our "mountain"  dwelling mule deer. Their strategies could be different in other environments that they also inhabit - chaparral, semi-desert, brush or woods.

Common Mullein genus Verbascum thapsus

Oakmoss lichen
Evernia prunastri

Common Witch's Hair
Alectoria sarmentosa

During the winter they forage on small branches, frozen plants, mosses and lichens.

In some locations they luck out and find 

a feeding station or join cattle in farmers' fields.

There the mule deer can form large groups, especially in the winter.

By springtime they find plenty of other foods; young twigs, buds, leaves and grasses. 

One of the numerous BC moss species

Large Mule Deer family relaxing by Princeton, BC

By summer, the mule deer shed their grizzled hair and become more reddish-brown. Hair in the deer's coat is quite buoyant - all deer are excellent swimmers.

Mule Deer belong to the Deer Family, which means that the males have antlers, bony projections (unlike horns - see the Bighorn Sheep blog). Only male mule deer posses the antlers; they use them to fight the other males (bucks) and win a small harem of females (does). 

This happens during the fall months from about October to December. the bucks shed their antlers during January - February and start growing new ones in Spring.

The babies (fawns) are born in May or June.

Last spring I was kayaking the Kootenay River when I saw this doe just about ready to give birth. She was on a high bank not paying much attention to my camera and I. Unfortunately the water is quite fast at this time of the year, it turned my unsteady vessel in all directions making photography near to impossible. At the end I just paddled away, having no idea how her story has ended.

In any case, I like to believe that a little fawn, just like the one below, became her cheerful companion and that he/she survived until the adulthood. 

Only about 70 percent of young deer make it past the first year of their lives. 

Princeton, BC

Mule deer are most active in the mornings and in the evenings and they come out from their hiding places sometimes carelessly and in large numbers. They can cause hazardous situations on the roads - where on has crossed several others might be ready run across. 

Rock Creek, BC 

Manning Park, BC

It seems that they have adapted to most of the British Columbia's environments and that, as we hunt their predators for trophies (still???) and/or deprive them (the predators) of habitat, the mule deer numbers are on the rise. 

Here are two things that I have learned by writing this entry:

ONE

Mule deer have more and larger scent glands than any other deer in this part of the world. I am guessing that their way of life - traveling through dense forests and bushy areas - might have something to do with that.  Maybe there are other reasons that I still do not know about. True enough that even the human can smell a deer on the trail.

TWO

Just couldn't help it. This guy really makes me think that way.

More About British Columbia's OWLS

When, two weeks ago, the little Pygmy Owl landed on the topmost branch of our Douglas Fir I realized that there was a very similar photo of its cousin, Northern Hawk Owl in my older files. I decided to put the two together, trying to scale the sizes the best I could using the Adobe Photoshop CS4 

(I know, it is an older version but my CS4 and I have been together for a while and to part with such a great friend for a new fling? Hard.)

Since the birds sat on the same tree it was a fun job and I really like the result. They look so cozy together; never mind that the bigger one would love to have the little guy for breakfast any time.

I then dug out the other owl photos and tried to scale them according to the numbers that other people published in Wikipedia. Great fun although I am not sure how accurate I am - in any case we get an idea.

 (And I believe that I am close)

Same design and function in many different sizes. Whoooo said that life was boring?

Of course there are many more owl species in British Columbia. One day I hope to add more images to this small collection. For now, it is just great to know that they are there.

BIGHORN SHEEP

Bighorn Sheep, Ovis canadensis, lives in the western parts of Canada and USA.

It is February and the bighorns are still roaming the mountains together. Males, females and young, all  in one big group for the winter. It is easier to survive the cold months and  to evade predators in 

All members of this family have horns, permanent structures that grow from bony projections on the head. (Sheep, goats and antelopes have horns. Elk, deer and moose have bony antlers that are being shed each winter. Right Dad? My Dad would never forgive me if I called an antler a horn. That would have been the end of our relationship. Just kidding about the relationship.)


Male's massive horns are a symbol of his rank, bigger the horns more dominant the ram. They are tightly curled and might weigh as much as his entire skeletal system. Poor guy to haul this stuff about for all his life so he can bang heads with the other rams for the chance to procreate. For the CHANCE!

Horns are made mostly of keratin, (protein that forms human hair and nails is also keratin). Keratin is light-weight, elastic, strong and durable and the body is continually adding new layers to the existing ones for the most of the year. The growth stops in the fall and the cessation in the annual growth is clearly visible on the horn - a deeper and darker ring develops on the horns each winter marking the period of no-slow growth.  Those who are not as easily confused as I , can count the rings and tell the ram's age.

Ram's skull is reinforced by extra bones and the tendons of his neck are extremely massive. All this is needed for the protection of the brain and for the absorption of all those nasty blows during the rams' butting jousts. I will never forget the first time we heard those pistol-like sounds that echoed throughout Alberta mountains. We were in a truck driving at 100 km/hr and the sound of fighting rams was clearly audible inside the cabin although the windows were closed.

It is only February but his guy is probably practicing for the next  mating season in October, 

some 8 months away. 

Since all the ewes have mated in the fall and are now pregnant, the trees take the frustration, there were quite a few semi-naked trunks around at this location when we were there.

Females have smaller horns that stop growing after about 4 years.

They are handy for a bit of protection and also for establishing the relationship between the females. 

They do not butt heads like the guys, poking and prodding is a more feminine way to deal with ranking.

All young (born in May-June) stay with the family for the first two to four years of age. 

Eventually, usually after the females give birth, the young males will leave the band with the older rams to roam'n learn.

When Spring arrives, the matriarch of the group will lead the "girl" group to higher grounds in the mountains. She will choose a rocky terrain with steep cliffs where the sheep can find protection from predators.

 

The groups will disperse, the females will be taking care of the newborn and the young while the males of age will wonder off.

They (the boys) will travel together until October; looking for green pastures trying to grow strong,
practicing their sheep-martial arts and establishing their dominance over the other males.

They might even pause their roaming to have a look at the boy-toys in the local marina.

Or maybe not.

In any case, when traveling the Kootenay country, please always drive with care. 

It is not the humans who have the right of the way here.
 And that is the greatest thing about living in this part of the world.

The Year of The OWL

Many things happen during a twelve-month period in Nature. 

Though similar, they are never the same. Each year becomes "The Year Of ..."

The past one was definitely "The Year of The Owl".

(I dedicate this entry to my owl-loving niece Francesca, 

true environmentalist and a tireless advocate of Nature)

Northern Hawk Owl, Surnia ulula
from Bird Feeder - part III

June:
My friends and I decided to explore and photograph a wonderful part of the Washington State, USA, called The Palouse. We commenced our trip by visiting an old cemetery by a small town of  Spangle, The cemetery, quite detached and seemingly forgotten by the town below, sits, like an open history book, on the top of the largest hill. Only the old tombstones and a handful of mature trees obstruct a full 360 degree view of the sea of green, gently rolling country below.

Spalding, Old Cemetery, WA, USA

The center of the cemetery is crowned by an old spruce which must have been planted by some of the early settlers almost a century and a half ago. Thinking of what life must have been back then I somehow felt drawn to that central point, the tree that remembered the times gone by. Almost past it,  I noticed that, in one place, its otherwise evenly placed bark bulged in an untidy way.  The irregularity made me look up.

A pair of beautiful yellow,  motionless eyes stared at me betraying the perfect camouflage of a large bird.

The colors and patterns of its plumage made it almost invisible as it sat close to the trunk pretending to be just another bit growth. Even the topmost feathers, the "horns" helped it to blend in, as they followed the deep creases in the bark.

For the entire duration of our visit a Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, has been patiently observing our every step. 

When all four of us gathered underneath the tree it allowed us to take a couple of photos and then took off to seek a more peaceful perch in younger trees by the edge of the cemetery.

Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis                       

It was the last place where we would have expected to find an owl but more we thought about it, the greater sense it made.

A quiet cemetery with old trees (so scarce otherwise) and fertile fields all around must have been a good venue for the largest of all North American owls.
There must be many rodents scurrying all over the  place, enough for bird  to make a decent living.

A silent, ncturnal hunter, it would go after other prey too,snakes, frogs, rabbits, hares, raccoons, even a baby deer.

And, as the only avian species, it also regularly preys on skunks.
Swooping down on wings with flight feathers equipped with special comb-like structures that reduce the sound to nothing, and equipped with sharp  talons that can squeeze with amazing force, it gives its prey only a minuscule chance to react.

October: 
I was hiking the woods near Chilliwack - Yarrow, BC. It was early morning and I was determined to make my way to the rocky shores of Chilliwack River. Salmon spawn had begun and I was hoping to find some photo-action there. 

Somewhere past all this growth would be the rocky shore, river, salmon, sea gulls and, hopefully, not many (preferably none) people.
But I wasn't the only one hoping for zero people, someone else was hoping for the same. 

Barred Owl, Strix varia was taking a morning break after a night's hunt. Unfortunately it was a bit too high and obstructed by the autumn leaves to give me a clear view. It sat with its back to me but as I was trying to provide my camera with a tad better view, the head  pivoted in that typical owl fashion and the eyes, all dark, bore into mine. 

The owls' eyes cannot move in their sockets, and while mine are equipped with muscles that make the eyeballs move, the owls have to turn their heads in that specialized owl fashion. Their neck vertebrae have different structure than ours; so do their neck muscles and veins. They can turn their heads without strangling themselves or cutting off their blood supply to the brain. A really neat study by the scientists at John Hopkins University  only recently shed light on these adaptations..

The owl and I just stared at each other for a while (I wasn't moving my eyeballs either in order not to scare the bird.) When I finally lowered mi sight to look at the camera and back, the owl was gone.

Chillwack River, BC, Canada

Red Admiral ,Vanessa atalanta on wild Butterfly Bush, Buddleia, Chilliwack River

February:
Winter snow has prompted little birds to come closer to the bird feeders in Glade. Large flocks of finches,  redpolls and siskins kept on arriving and leaving and then arriving again. Resident chickadees, jays and flickers kept the place busy non stop. Only Northern Shrike left and none of them seemed to regret it.
However, their happiness did not last long.

A tiny but skillful hunter arrived to take care of mice and aging birds. A Northern Pygmy Owl, Glaucidium 

gnoma took up its residence in the village!  The very first Pygmy Owl that I have ever seen in our neighborhood!

Quite visible to all it settled on a bare branch two meters above the ground. A bunch chickadees mobbed it for a short while but then, foolishly, I thought, lost their interest.

The owl, a cute little fluff, Mother of all Deception, sat there, body motionless, only its head rotating as it tried to keep the track of the birds. Two dark "eye" spots on the back of the head proved to be quite confusing, probably not only to me but to the birds as well. Given its small size of about only 15 cm one was never quite sure what was the owl observing.

Hiding behind the corner about twenty meters away from the bird, I carefully set my tripod and the camera with a 400 mm lens and, fully expecting the bird to fly away, started shooting . My first photos show a tiny bird in the middle of a very large space.
Having those I dared to move the whole setup a bit closer. The owl merely looked in my direction and turned its head some hundred and eighty degrees away as if I wasn't worth looking at. More clicks and more movement .. closer .... and closer .....and closer still until I was mere three meters away! And the owl just sat there as if it could not care less. It allowed me to manoeuvre about to get a better composition, change the depth of field and add a  filter.  Oh, and change the battery as well. Then a friend's car drove down the driveway and he got out and marched right by the owl into the house. The bird merely blinked and looked away.

It was the first sunny afternoon and at about four pm, the  light was soft and low and right behind my back. It was my birthday too and the owl probably decided to grant me a present!

The only thing that seemed to bother it were harsh clicks of the shutter on my camera (here is a gentle suggestion to manufacturers).

The little Pygmy Owl gave me good twenty minutes of its presence before it took off. Its flight was not exactly as quiet as the flight of the night-hunting owl, it does not have its flight feathers equipped with tiny combs for silent flight. There is no reason for such stealth; because it is a day-hunting creature (diurnal), everyone can see it anyway. It was fast though, somewhere in the literature I learned that pygmy owls have been observed to chase and catch small birds in flight. Just have a closer look at it:






Since that day, I'd seen it only once.

Announcing its arrival with a rapid koo-koo-koo-koo-koo-oo it landed on the top of a far-away tree.

It made me wonder, The owls nest early in the season but I am afraid that the woods around here are not old enough for that.