Worm free status confirmed

Allan's photo of the reserve from a flight with Chris Grooms

We were contemplating giving the entire herd anti-worm medication when Lorraine Alderman, a board member and avid horse lover, suggested we test the deer droppings first. The test results are in and the herd is worm-free!

Here is an aerial photo of the Reserve taken by Allan Park, our head deer keeper in early March just before the snow melted.

Buck in a truck

Your blog host has been trying to get this photo for months! Annie was visiting the Reserve on Monday. Every March 22 for the past three years, Annie and I have walked and talked to celebrate her birthday. Annie brought her camera, and voila! Buddy in the horse trailer out of the rain while we were, of course, getting wet! Great photo Annie and thanks for sending it to us.

A second mini-rut?

The head deer keeper, Allan, has reported an unusual occurrence in the herd hierarchy. He thinks this may be occurring because Bash has had a surge of testosterone and looks like he did during the Fall rut (golden head colour, thicker neck, flaring orbital glands, thrashing trees and rocks, defending his territory). He is the only one of the bucks in this state and is bullying all the others with particular focus on Max. Max has lost his status as herd leader and seems to have fallen into fourth place, acting as if he has already lost his antlers (an event that usually occurs in early April).

Bash got his name for being bashful or timid when we first took over caring for the bucks. However, now he is "bashing" the others aggressively and giving new meaning to his name. He is certainly intent on taking over Max's spot as leader and is anything but bashful when it comes to his behaviour towards the other deer.

His overall health appears to be good and we see no reason to think this behaviour is caused by ill health. Another positive note, Bash is not displaying any aggressive towards the deer keeper.

We have been unable to find any reference to a spring rut or any other reason for this drastic change in appearance and behaviour.