Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We apologize for not blogging in the past few weeks.We are suddenly into the full winter work schedule -- feeding the deer hay each morning, breaking ice to keep water open at least twice a day. We are happy to report that the new shelter is still standing and a windbreak on the west side of the lean-to survived the high winds of the snow storm on Sunday, December 16th. There is ample evidence that the deer have burrowed themselves into the hay in both areas out of the wind and snow.

We've just made an arrangement to have the laneway ploughed whenever necessary, so there should be off-road parking if you want to visit before Christmas or during the holidays.

We wish to thank everyone (in the hundreds!) who has helped the Fallow Deer Reserve this year. You are all very special people. We wish you much joy and peace for the holidays and much abundance in the New Year.

The non-party's over

Moki with injured left ear.

We are declaring the rut or mating season officially over. The bucks have returned to a more calm daily routine of grazing and resting while chewing cud. Most of the in-fighting has subsided. Mike and Dandy who had some prolonged and frequent skirmishes are now cohabiting in the shelter without fuss.

Casualties of the rut include many small trees and bushes that have lost bark caused by the bucks' regular thrashing with their antlers. And, Moki lost part of his left ear after a fight with Spike just this past week. At first we thought he might have ripped his ear on the fenceposts (think kids' rite of passage, tongue on cold metal), but then we saw some fresh blood on Spike's antlers. Mystery solved.

We have started feeding hay but as yet the bucks seem interested only in the hay's best parts (dried flowers, etc.) and push the hay around with their noses on the look-out for these succulent pieces.

Recently the herd has started to follow us whenever we walk around the 2700 foot fence line checking for damage, holes or obstructions. When we start out, Max usually walks quietly alongside or just behind us, followed by Mike and one or two others. Soon almost the entire herd is following along in single file except for KoKo. He finds it difficult to leave behind his beloved mineral lick and always choses it over the 1/2 mile hike.

Ice capades

We received these innovative ways to keep the water buckets from freezing this winter from Susie who lives on Florida Road. We have great neighbours! Your ideas are very welcome, too. Remember we do not have electricity.

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I doubt that I've thought of or explored anything that you two haven't, but I've been looking for ideas for solar heating of water for animals. So far I haven't come across the perfect solution (!), but, for what they're worth, here are a couple of suggestions I've found which might be better than nothing.

(Both from a website for feeding feral cats)

Get an old tire off the rim [we could get you one - someone dumped a few beside the road at the top of Wildlife Hill!], and stuff it with rocks. Wedge a container (like a large bucket) in the hole in the tire and put the water in there. The black tire will absorb the light from the sun during the day and heat the rocks within the tire The rocks will radiate the warmth enough to keep the water from freezing.

This suggestion comes from a horse magazine, to keep water for the horses in the fields in winter. The barn manager piled a few rock-filled tires on top of each other and then inserted a water bucket in the center of them. She said this actually prevented the water from freezing for a period of time.

"Snuggle Safe." It's a disk about the size of a frisbee intended to keep pets' bedding warm. Under normal indoor conditions, you put it in the microwave for 5 minutes and it stays hot for 12 hours. For outdoor use, it has been reported that the discs can be safely heated up to 8 minutes in a 1,000 watt microwave to last as long as possible outdoors. Depending on the microwave, the discs can conceivably melt so you have to do a little trial and error to see how hot you can go.

The discs are just the right size to fit inside the under rim of some large dinner plates and water bowls. In the frigid outdoors their heat lasts 2-3 hours. If you can afford it, it's convenient to have two sets of discs - that way you can heat and bring one set to the colony, and pickup and bring back the set used the last time you were feeding. Available through PETsMART (Item No. 451284; $19.99).
http://www.petsmart.com

New shelter

Here's the new shelter we put up this weekend as an experiment. It offers an additional place from which to feed the deer hay, keeping it dry and possible shelter from the winds. It's 20 feet long we left south and north ends open. The north end faces the barn which provides some protection from the north wind. So far, the bucks seem to appreciate it and haven't shown any signs of tearing at the sides. We shall see.

We are trying to find a solar or wind solution to keeping the water troughs from freezing this winter. If you have any suggestions, please make some.

Calendars for 2008

We have designed and sent this year's desktop calendar to the printer so it's time to let us know if you want one or two. This year's cover boy is Bash under the apple tree at the Florida Road site. The calendars feature a coil top and measure 8 inches width by 4 inches height. There are 13 recent photos in full colour showing all the bucks.

Cost is $25 ($10 for the calendar and $15 donation with income tax receipt) and we must receive your cheque by December 5, 2007 to ensure delivery for Christmas gifts. Please make cheque payable to FALLOW DEER RESERVE and send to 204 Simmons Road RR2 Odessa ON K0H 2H0.

Good news

Today we learned that The Community Foundation of Greater Kingston has approved our application for funding and we are going to be receiving $1000 on November 29, 2007 at 10am at a cheque presentation at the Kingston Yacht Club. We are very, very grateful for this generous support.

This is EGee a few weeks ago looking forward to a secure future thanks to his sponsors, Marian and David, and The Community Foundation of Greater Kingston.

After the Chase

Here's George after he exhausted himself "fighting" with KoKo for at least 1/2 hour. We are almost certain that the rut is in full swing now and should be lasting for the next 2 weeks or so. The bucks go from complete lethargy to over-exertion. They are not eating much as throats and glands are swollen.

Life is good

Resting after his performance on Sunday in fallen maple leaves is Max, the herd leader, secure in the knowledge that thanks to you there is food in the larder and hay in the barn.

Thanks to all deer lovers

Thanks to everyone who came to the Open House yesterday. What great, generous people you are! We were a bit overwhelmed and apologize for not being quite prepared for so many of you.

Because we received more food than we can safely store, we took some of the best apples and carrots to the Partners in Mission Food Bank in Kingston this afternoon, and they were happy to receive this nutritious donation from Fallow Deer Reserve supporters.

Estimated attendance is somewhere around 200. The deer performed as if having such an audience is a regular occurrence. The audience achieved a remarkable quiet that allowed the deer to come forward out of the woods. It was magic.

Special thanks to volunteers Aida Sulcs (facepainting), Wendy Workman (info), Miesje Stewart and Amber Bellamy (children's games), Don Murphy and Allan Park (tour guides), Adam Strauss and Colin Saccary (parking)

We are pleased to announce that we have raised $1225.71 since yesterday morning.

Thank you everyone. Merci tout le monde.

If you had to leave before the deer feeding or arrived too late, please call 613-386-3673 or via email jmcd@reztel.net to arrange a visit. Please resist the temptation to drop in without a deer-keeper. It's important to keep track of what the deer are eating and there are other safety issues for the deer and for yourselves.

The Fallow Deer Reservists

OPEN HOUSE, Sunday, September 23, 2007

An invitation for you and your deerest

to the Open House at the new site

4265 Florida Road, near Wilton

(Call 613-386-3673 for directions)

Sunday, September 23, 2007

from 1-4 pm

Tour, hike, talk or walk.

Deer will be fed at about 3pm.

Children are very welcome.

Bring apples and/or carrots for the deer,

and cookies for everyone else.

We’ll provide lemonade & soft drinks.

Rain or shine.

Visitors from Woodstock ON

Deb meets George

We welcomed Marianne and Deb Park, Allan's sisters from Woodstock, Ontario in August for their first visit to the reserve. They enjoyed the interaction with the deer and Marianne was able to get KoKo to take food from her hand, a first.

Volunteer of the Month

M.S. (11) is one of our youngest volunteers. She loves to chop up apples and carrots for the deer and is great at pumping water into their trough. She was one of the first to hand feed KoKo in late August and now KoKo is high on her list of favourites, along with her beloved deer, Murph, who's in the background of this photo.

Closeup: Mike

Here's a closeup of Mike now that his velvet has vanished, showing the injury on his right brow antler. Although the antler touches his forehead, there does not appear to be any rubbing and from our observations there is no problem with his vision.

Nearly all deer have a facial gland in front of each eye which you can see in this photo. The gland contains a strongly scented pheromone used to mark his home range. Bucks of a wide range of species open these glands wide when angry or excited.

Max moments after his velvet loss

Max, moments after he tore away at his velvet. August 22, 2007.

More dreads

More deer are losing the velvet that has covered their growing antlers since April/May. Gulliver and Moki are added to the list. KoKo lost his velvet overnight, from black velvet to bone with no signs of the dried velvet strands. Mike has lost his velvet and we are pleased that his injured brow antler has hardened in such a way as not to impair his vision. It looks like a broken finger and we are still trying to get a good picture of it.

This picture shows Ty in the background with his velvet still on. Moki is in the foreground with the velvet torn away from his left antler and the hard right antler, but some of the strands of velvet are still attached to the base (burr) and look like dreadlocks dangling on his forehead and sometimes over his eyes. This bothers the deer and they rub their antlers against the juniper and cedar boughs to tear away at them and hurry up with their loss.

Velvet shreds

Two of our bucks have shedded their velvet so far -- both in the past few days. First EGee, then Dandy. Our picture of EGee was not the greatest, but Dandy stopped moving his head from side to side long enough to give us this picture. The deer are bothered by the long strips that hang in front of their eyes both the shreds of velvet dry and fall off in about 48 hours.

Sign posted

Allan, Aida, Adam, Jane and the new sign

As of yesterday afternoon, our official sign is finished and in place at the entrance to the new Reserve. Thanks to artist, Aida Sulcs, for her excellent work which captures George perfectly in his prime.

Merci also to Diane Lalonde and Adam Strauss for helping to mount the sign.

July update and thanks

Thanks to Don Murphy, we have a wonderful new gate that has allowed us to start work on the barn and that opens wide to allow tractor-drawn hay wagons easy entry to the enclosure.

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With design, coordination and labour from Terry Thomson and Sam Bush, we have built a lean-to on the south side of the barn which will provide the bucks with warm shelter from winter winds, ice storms, etc. We were able to use lumber and plywood salvaged from the old reserve by Don in addition to the lumber that was stored in the new Reserve's barn. Also helping in this project are Adam Strauss and Drew Sauve.

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Emerald Murphy has donated 250 bales of this year's hay which is now stacked in our loft thanks to help from Murph and Don. On Monday, July 23, Bruce Burt, our 90 year old volunteer, drove his tractor (purchased in 1949) and a load of 113 bales from his farm to the reserve about 4km. We are happy to report that both the tractor and he made the trip and the descent down the Florida Road hill without incident. Thanks to Colin Saccary and Paige for helping us unload the hay wagon and stack the bales. Thanks to Barry, Bruce and Stewart for the "supervision".

The deer are flourishing, growing enormous antlers and very relaxed. They've convinced us that they love their new home.

Many thanks from Allan and Jane

Bash, Buddy, Dandy, EGee, George, Gulliver, KoKo,

Max, Mike, Moki, Murph, Spike & Ty

Come Visit

Our new location is on Florida Road in the
northwest corner of the city of Kingston.

We welcome visitors by appointment only.
Contact us to make an appointment and get directions.
jmcd@reztel.net
613-386-3673

Donations of time, apples, carrots, corn, oats, hay bales and dollars are always welcome, too.

Charity registered by Canada Revenue Agency.
Income tax receipts issued for financial donations of $5 or more.
Mailing address: 204 Simmons Rd RR2, Odessa ON K0H 2H0

Falling antlers

In 2006 the bucks had their antlers sawed off when they were tested by federal government inspectors. So we really didn't witness the natural shedding process or the order in which it happened. This year we kept track of the events. Our research indicates that the oldest or most respected bucks shed their antlers first, and the youngest last. We guess that is because Mother Nature needs more time to re-grow the largest antlers and perhaps that the older bucks can handle the indignity of being vulnerable a bit better than the youngest. Who knows?

1. Gulliver, April 8, 2007
2. Max, April 10, 2007
3. Mike, April 12, 2007
4. Dandy, April 12, 2007
5. Bash, April 18, 2007
6. Murph, April 20, 2007
7. Koko, April 20 and April 24, 2007
8. George, April 22, 2007
9. Buddy, April 23, 2007
10. EGee, April 24, 2007
11. Ty, April 28 and April 30, 2007
12. Spike, May 5 and May 7, 2007
13. Moki, May 5 and May 7, 2007

Those listed with two dates did not lose both antlers on the same day. KoKo has the record for walking around with one antler for the longest period, 4 days!

If you have a theory on the "why" of antler shedding order, please let us know.

Wonky Mike

There may have been one injury from the transportation process to the Fallow Deer Reserve's new home. Mike has one brow antler that points down rather than up. There's no blood or sign of trauma, other than this rather unique antler formation. From our research this would be evident only in this year's antler and not a permanent problem for him. The wonky antler does not appear to affect his vision or any other skills.

This means we'll have no trouble recognizing Mike this year!

Hiding 101

Eats shoots and leaves

The bucks explore their new home

Fallow Deer Reserve, Florida Road, Saturday, May 26, 2007, 7pm

Mission Accomplished?

From left to right David, Andy, Joe, Bruce, Allan, Jane, Don, Wendy, Paul and Sue

The fallow deerkeepers are happy to announce that the deer have arrived safely in their new home as of 2:30pm this afternoon.

Many, many thanks to the crew who worked so hard today...Don, Wendy, David, Trish, Andy, Joe, Paul, Sue, Tony, Bruce, Jane & Allan. Special thanks to Dr. Brian Willows (Thousand Island Vets) who was present for the loading and the release of the deer.

And, of course, we thank all of you who have helped with this "final" phase of the Fallow Deer Project, the preparation of the old and new sites so that the move from Scotland Road to Florida Road could take place while the deer were in the early velvet stage of antler development. No deer or person was injured! After the deer came into the paddock area to eat medicated feed and chill for 2 hours, the dangerous loading process took 15 minutes -- thanks to great teamwork, the careful planning of Don and Allan, wise counsel of Brian Willows and patience, patience, patience.

PS Trish Forrest sent us these great photos.

Much Ado about Everything

From left to right Murph, Don, David and Joe.

Much has been accomplished since our last posting. Bernie Sagriff and his drilling crew jackhammered the last fence post hole on Saturday, May 5. The huge wire 8 foot fencing was delivered in the same week and was unrolled in 330 foot chunks with a special spool attached to Murph's tractor, suggested by Joe Barnard, designed and built by Don Murphy (see photo above). It works like a charm. If all goes well, we’ll be moving the deer very soon. Thanks to volunteers who worked hard the past two weekends to stretch and wire almost 2000 feet of fencing: Don, Allan, Murph, Joe, Paul, Duncan, Colin, Jen, Aaron, David, Brian, Wendy and Jane. We have about 700 feet to go.

As you may know the fallow deer bucks have shed their antlers and we are busy collecting them. Click on “Antler Auction” in the right hand column to get the specifics about Gulliver's antlers. We have raised over $260 so far from the sale of these antlers. Available as of today are pairs of antlers from Buddy, Bash, Dandy and Mike. Single antlers from KoKo and EGee are also available.

If you are interested in purchasing a pair of antlers, please let us know as soon as possible. We can send you photos of the antlers and measurements, etc. if you need more information. We are suggesting a minimum of $75 per pair but everything is negotiable.

On Friday, May 11, 2007 we received official notice from Canada Revenue that we have been granted charitable status and can now issue income tax receipts to you for your financial donations. This was supposed to take 4 or 6 months. We are delighted that it took us less than two months. Good timing, good luck.

Fallow Deer Reserve is now registered as a charity in Canada because it benefits the community by preventing cruelty to animals through the operation of a safe, permanent and natural shelter for the lifetime of rescued fallow deer.

We issue tax receipts for any donation of $5.00 or more.

Wendy and Jane "manned" information and yard sale tables at the Wilton Women's Institute Sale on May 12th and raised some awareness as well as money. Thanks to Monique, Deb, Sue, Wendy and others I don't know about who donated baking, rummage and time to this venture. It was great for us to meet some of you who actually read this blog! Please don't be shy...leave comments.

Fence Drilling has begun

Yesterday volunteers Don, Murph, Allan and Wayne met with Bernie Sagriff and Joe from Newburgh (the amazing driller) to begin drilling holes for our 10 foot steel fence posts.

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Eight hours later the job is almost 2/3 done and approximately 120 fence posts are standing! Our hopes are to complete the process on Sunday, April 29 if weather permits.

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It was a long, dusty and loud day at the new reserve. Thanks to Don's excellent planning and the labour of all the volunteer work crews prior to Thursday, the task went relatively smoothly. Thanks also to Murph for the use of the tractor.

Biology of Fallow Deer

Fallow deer (Cervus dama)

The fallow deer originally lived only in the Mediterranean lands and the Middle East. It has been introduced to most European countries, North and South America and New Zealand.This medium sized deer stands about 91-97 cm high at the shoulder; males weigh 80-125 kg, females 35-41 kg. The fur colour is highly variable, ranging from reddish brown to almost black and sometimes also white. It is covered with white spots in both young and adult deer. In some individuals the white spots become indistinct in winter, in others they remain visible. In their first years, bucks have spiky antlers, but when they are 3-4 years old they develop antlers with broad, palmate areas. Fallow deer inhabit deciduous and mixed woodlands on open, flat or gently rolling terrain. Their food consists of grasses, herbs, leaves, fruits and in winter also the bark of trees. Most activity takes place at dusk and dawn.

Bucks are fully grown at 6 years. In captivity, fallow deer may reach an age of maximum 25 years, in the wild their lifespan is 11-15 years.

Visit http://www.dierinbeeld.nl/animal_files/mammals/deer/#shamanism for more information about deer mythology and other interesting thoughts.

The Clearing Team

Saturday was a fine sunny day and a group of dedicated volunteers headed to the new reserve site to diminish an old farmer's dump and start the process of clearing brush and trees away from the proposed fence line.

Many, many thanks to Rick, Joe, Duncan, Dayna, Luke, Austin, Dylan, Jason, Greg, Ben, Mike, Annie, Wayne and Murph who joined Allan, Jane and Don to help transform the deer's new home to a safe place. With great teamwork, much was accomplished. So far, four loads of metal debris made their way off the land to be recycled and the rest is sorted.

Thanks to Wendy for making us all a great lunch! Thanks to the bucks who showed up to meet the volunteers as part of the "reward" for work well done.

Update: George

March 31, 2007

George is looking very good these days -- just a slight limp. The warm weather is suiting him just fine. We have high hopes that he will make a full recovery!

George got his last dose of anti-inflammatory meds on Tuesday, March 13 and to date seems to be doing as well as expected. The vet predicted that George's condition would deteriorate once meds were stopped. As long as his limp did not go back to what it was in early February, then we could rest assured that the injury was a strain and that nature is slowly taking its course to repair the damage.

Update: George still needing meds

George continues to have problems with his left front leg. The vet, Dr. Brian Willows, paid a visit to the reserve on Tuesday, February 27 to have a look. He told us deerkeepers (Wendy, Don, Jane and Allan) to continue to give him his anti-inflammatory meds once a day for another 10 days and then stop and see if he reverts to the way he walked when we first noticed the injury or there is some improvement. The vet was encouraged by the fact that George is putting weight on the leg and at one point, he actually "pronked" for a few yards.

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If no improvement after we stop the meds, George will have to be tranquilized and examined hands-on. Fortunately, Dr. Willows can bring a mobile x-ray to investigate George's shoulder and leg joints at the reserve. It appears to be a severe strain which can take 6 weeks or more to heal, but it also could be that something has lodged in his hoof. Dr. Willows did not see any swelling to indicate this. In the meantime, we are doing our best to keep George and the rest of the herd as calm as possible.

George on the Mend

Last week George was having trouble with his front left leg, limping and not making it to feeding time which, as you might guess, is a sure sign that all is not well.Wendy contacted Dr. Willows at Thousand Island Vets and Don drove to Gananoque to discuss the limp with the vet. He felt it was likely a sprain, not a break or dislocation and it probably occurred when George slipped on ice or was butted by another deer. An anti-inflammatory medication was prescribed for at least once a day for 10 days.

This is the first time we have tried to give one of the bucks any medicine and it has been an "adventure". We mix the powder with juice in a hollowed out portion of a small apple.

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It then takes at least 3 of us and much experimentation to figure out how to get the meds just to George without re-injuring him. We have to practise patience to wait for George to come to us rather than going towards him. The rest of the herd seems to get easily spooked to see so many of us at once, and they will all head back to the trees at the far end of the reserve which is a long journey for a deer with a bum leg.

One person feeds apples and carrots to the herd trying to direct them away from George as he limps in. Another person concentrates on feeding EGee who sometimes likes to butt George if he thinks that he's getting the lion's share of the goodies. The third person sees to it that George gets his special medicated apples and is able to keep clear of the other bucks. Each person has a medicated apple just in case George comes close by.

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Some days George doesn't show up and can't be seen. One day George and Buddy were "lost" so Allan and Wendy trekked through deep snow to the outer edges to try to find him. When they came back to the barn, exhausted, both deer were hanging out near the barn as if they had been there forever!

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Yesterday was day 6 and we hope to finish up the medication drill on Sunday. Happily George's condition is improving daily, he is moving with a slight limp now despite the deep and drifting snow and very cold temperatures. He asked me to thank Dr. Willows and all the people who have helped in the somewhat crazy "get-the-meds-into-George" dance including Allan, Wendy, Don, Jane, Bruce, Miesje and Melody.

Did you hear the good news?

The purchase of the new site of the Fallow Deer Reserve was completed on January 17, 2007.

Max was happy to hear the news and to get a sneak preview (via photo) of the herd's new home. Our 13 bucks will take up permanent residence here in June, after a 10+ acre fence is installed and as soon as each has lost his antlers and before velveting begins. The colder weather has the herd eating hay now in addition to apples, corn and carrots. Recently we tried them on pumpkin which some of them enjoyed, too.

There is much planning and work to be done but we are happy to report that this major hurdle has been crossed and duly celebrated by the deerkeepers!

Grass is green and calendars are on the way

Happy 2007 everyone. We are happy to report that the bucks are still grazing on the green grass that continues to appear in the wet areas of the reserve. And they are all putting on weight which is unusual for wintertime. So far, they aren't that interested in hay but, of course, continue to love the corn, apples and carrots that they get every few days.

Deerkeepers are busy with plans for the fencing on the new site in the Wilton area which will provide the bucks with natural shelter, pasture and quiet.

If you have ordered a calendar, rest assured we just got notice that they have been shipped and should be here this week. Sorry for the delay.