Season's greeting

Peace
by
peace.

Goodwill
and wishes
to all.

In memory of Ty

Ty, April 2007

We are very grateful to T.B. who decided to sponsor Ty's memory. For every person who has wished the Reserve and its mission ill, there are at least 10 others who understand why the Reserve exists and what it means. Thanks so much, T.B., for thinking of such a sweet way to remember him.

Dandy, born 2000 - died November 23, 2008

Dandy, 2006

Today at about 4pm, Don Murphy and his dog, Jenna, found the remains of Dandy on Empey Road, off McConnell Road. It appears he was shot in the head and his antlers were cut off and left at the site, along with his head and skin. His ear tag was missing. It appears he was shot today as we had received reports of sightings from people on Thorpe Road yesterday.

Not only did these poachers shoot Dandy out of season, they did so on a Sunday and showed they were aware of their lawlessness by not treating his remains with any appropriate respect. A simple phone call to us admitting that Dandy had been shot in error, if that had been the case, would have been the right thing to do.

What a horrible discovery for Don! What a strange coincidence that he should be the one to find Dandy so soon after his death and dismemberment!

Our only consolation is that we know where all our fallow deer bucks are and the search has ended -- albeit sadly -- but ended nonetheless after more than two weeks of worry and concern.

Dandy was a very strong and beautiful buck who was one of the oldest in the herd and, at times, he served as Max's lieutenant in protecting and calming the herd. He often spent time on his own, independent of the others but also enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Mike for that second-in-command status and was tolerant of younger bucks and deerkeepers.

EGee eases back!

EGee, March 2008

EGee is back thanks to Don and Wendy who received a call late afternoon yesterday, Saturday, November 15, 2008 that he had been spotted on McConnell Road, north of Wilton. They drove the horse trailer there, spotted him, opened up the trailer and got out the corn. Wendy encouraged him towards the trailer and backed in (there is a front exit, fortunately) and wouldn't you know EGee walked in and stood still as the doors closed him in.

EGee (for Easy Going) proved worthy of his name and the Bogert family of Toronto who are his sponsors are very glad that he has come back to the fold. We are also happy to inform the residents of Fairmount Home that one of their favourites, EGee, will still be here when they visit on Sunday afternoons in the summer.

Moki's love story

Moki is one of our youngest bucks. He escaped the enclosure with the herd sometime on November 5-6. Several days later, Allan, the head deer-keeper saw him near a deer hunter's stand off Florida Road, courting a female white tail deer decoy that had obviously been sprayed with something to attract white tail bucks. We didn't think that fallow deer would be enticed by the scent of a different species of deer, but Moki proved to us that the books don't always know what's what. Allan alerted the team about Moki's whereabouts and Don Murphy contacted the owner of the land he was on for permission to search for him, and this is Mike Ivanik, a local bow hunter.

Mike undertook to watch Moki's comings and goings. Volunteers including Don, Wendy, Allan, Chris Grooms and others helped to watch Moki and build a corral around the deer decoy, bring in a horse trailer and create an elaborate "trap". For at least 4 days, Mike waited patiently from his deer stand and singlehandedly captured Moki on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Moki walked into the horse trailer without any need for tranquilizers and now is safely back at the Reserve. Thank you to all the volunteers especially Mike, the bow hunter, who has been promised Moki's antlers which will be shed in April 2009 and our deepest appreciation forever.

The word "moki" is Hopi for deer.

Our count is 10 in, 2 out and of course 1 lost.

On a personal note, your blogger/photographer, Jane, has been in Kingston General Hospital since surgery on November 11 and unable to keep you all posted on developments.

Thank you to everyone who has called and emailed to find out how I am doing. I am at home recouperating and expect a full recovery in 6 to 8 weeks.

Ty, born 2002? - died Nov. 10, 2008

Ty died today of capture myopathy after Don, Allan, Murph, Ken Gilpin and his assistant, Leeane from Animal Control made the call to tranquilize him. All went well, and he was placed in the horse trailer lying on a bed of hay and driven back to the Reserve. He was alive when the gates of the Reserve opened, but died moments after arriving home. Spirits were very high, and then very low.

We are, of course, all very shaken and sad to lose such a beautiful, healthy animal in his prime. Ty had been seen in the Thorpe Road/Peters Road area since the Reserve fence was cut on Wednesday night/Thursday morning nervous, fearful and skittish. He was one of the deer seen on Simmons Road moving away from the Reserve being chased by two young women in a car with a video camera. They didn't know how far they were taking the deer away from the Reserve.

He was one of the most shy deer and that's how he got his name...Shy Ty which was shortened to Ty. Maybe for that reason, no one officially sponsored him. He didn't come to the fence to be fed. He was a common fallow deer with uncommon grace.

We will miss him and his quiet presence. He always took care not to come too close to people, not to let his guard down. We must console ourselves that we did our best for him, that to leave him to starve or to be killed by a car was not an option. We know that he did not suffer a long or painful death and we know that he enjoyed three years of life that would not otherwise have been his.

Gulliver is back home!

Early this morning Gulliver decided he was ready to follow Don in through the gate and join his eight other buck buddies. This is great news for two boys in France who along with their grandmother are his sponsors.

Please do not go to the Reserve if you wish to help us. Volunteers are asked to go to 604 Simmons Road to meet and find out what help is required.

We are doing everything we can to encourage the deer to come back to the Reserve so we can lead them into the enclosure without having to use tranquilizer guns or large numbers of people.

These deer are confused. Max, their leader, did not leave the enclosure. It will take all the patience we can muster to get them home again.

Our present count...9 bucks in, 4 buck out.

George returns home! This one's for Tasha & Kelly

We have some good news. George who was one of the bucks released early on Thursday morning is now back at the Reserve. He was found by hunters in the Jamieson/Freeman Road area north of Sydenham. That's about 8 or10 miles north of the Reserve so he was moving.

Allan Park, our Head Deer keeper and Don Murphy, Founder and President of the Reserve were able to coax George near the trailer (lent to us by our neighbours, the Burleys), helped by local hunters who had reported him in the area. Thank you to all the good folks helping us!

George is our most social deer. He is sponsored by Marg and her granddaughter Kelly and he is the favourite buck of one of our youngest volunteers, Tashia, who was heartbroken when she heard he was missing. George is also the deer featured on our sign at the entrance to the Reserve.

That means that there are 8 deer inside the fence! We have spotted all the remaining deer at loose and telephone calls keep coming in. Please keep phoning.

From reports and verified sitings, we believe that EGee was last seen on McConnell Road. Moki on Florida Road. Ty on Thorpe Road. Gulliver and Dandy nearby the Reserve. If you see one of our deer, please call us. Try not to chase the deer, but if he starts to move in the "wrong" direction away from the Reserve, perhaps you can try to encourage them to go in the "right" direction. Easier said than done. When you call we will send someone to verify it is our deer and then hopefully the wheels will but put into motion a team prepared to tranquilize the deer. We now have the means to do this and hope to be able to do this starting Saturday, November 8.

The Worst has happened

If you have ever been to the Reserve, you know the most striking feature of it, besides the deer, is the 8 foot fencing that surrounds the 10 acres that protect the bucks from predators and keep them from the "wild" that holds many dangers for them...electric fences, highways, hunters, certain starvation in winter. As you know the fallow deer is not native to Canada and cannot survive without hay in the winter. These 13 bucks were rescued from a deer farm in 2005 and have been cared for by volunteers since.

In our worst nightmare, someone would come with bolt cutters or wire clippers and cut the fence for what reason we would not know. But since May 2007, we have had no incident and I guess we all started to believe that no one would be so callous or ignorant to do such a thing. Our neighbours were supportive.

Well the worst case scenario played out on November 6 when sometime between 5pm and 6am, the fence was cut and peeled back to allow 15 feet of open gate. At least 10 deer escaped and were spotted by a neighbour early in the morning. At present we have 7 deer in the reserve and there are 6 on the run. We have spotted three of them and are working on as many ways as we can think of to bring them to their home.

If you know anything about the people who did this, or if you are one of the persons who did this, we would like to know why? What purpose have you served? We thank you for not shooting the deer, but why put their lives in peril?

If you see any of the deer, please call (613) 386-1355 to report location, time and direction in which the buck was travelling.

With a great deal of sadness and worry,

The Deer Keepers

Fundraising -- 2009 Desk Calendars

The latest 2009 desk calendars are in and available at a cost of $20. Of this, $10 pays for the calendar and the postage to send it to you. $10 is a donation to the Reserve and for this Canadians receive an income tax receipt.

The 13 calendar photos are recent ones showing a year in the life of a fallow deer buck. We are always amazed at how much the deer change from one month to another!

The calendars are 210mm by 95mm and Jane McDonald's photos are reprinted on premium paper stock with a glossy finish.

To order, send a cheque payable to the Fallow Deer Reserve c/o 204 Simmons Road, RR2, Odessa ON Canada K0H 2H0. Allow one week for delivery in Canada.

Paper Stock: Premium, 215 gsm card stock with a glossy finish.

The rut continues

Here's a photo of Mike which shows how swollen the bucks' throats are in the rut (mating season) which has been experienced by our deer for the past two or three weeks. It is difficult for them to eat too much or to chew their cud. Also, they make a kind of deep "croaking" sound. We think the younger bucks (Spike, Moki and Buddy) are starting to come out of the rut as they are showing interest in grazing and are starting to eat hay when offered.

Everything old is new again

Jane draws water!

Allan and Don prepare the pump for final placement

Closeup of the McDougall pump

On Monday, October 13, Don Murphy assisted by Allan Park and Jane McDonald installed our "new", winter-ready hand pump. For Jane, this is the fulfillment of a dream held since childhood when she spent many happy hours in Boissevain, Manitoba where every house and garden had a mysterious backyard pump that magically brought cold, clear water from nowhere.

The pump was been lovingly and effectively restored by Don after his boss, Dennis Chadwick, donated the giant cast iron beauty that had been lying in one of his fields for years. The pump was made in Galt, Ontario by R.McDougall Company and there were traces of its orginal colour, forest green. It weighs many, many pounds, but thanks to Don's ingenuity and Allan's strength, it arrived safely at its new home on the Reserve.

This Thanksgiving, the deer and the deer keepers are very thankful for Don Murphy and Dennis Chadwick and for the simple wisdom of "old" technology.

Blog fans in Nebraska!

We got a phone call from the Vinton family who live in Nebraska. Mr. Vinton and his children like to read this blog had have been enjoying its photos & stories for the past six months. He was calling to see if we would sell antlers and we would be happy to -- except that there are some complicated regulations for shipping antlers across the border. So far, antlers have been purchased only by Canadians, but we think there is a way. Stay tuned.

Many thanks to the Vintons who live too far away to visit us in person. We really appreciated hearing about how you enjoy following our herd.

Velvet gone

Gulliver "thrashing"

Gulliver, losing velvet

The end of August marked the shedding of the velvet on the bucks' antlers. For a few days only, they were a sight, but not for long. They rub the velvet on low lying branches to help to get rid of the strands of velvet as quickly as possible. Testosterone levels are increasing and the bucks are becoming a bit more aggressive these days now that they all have hard antlers. These hard antlers will remain until next spring.

KoKo gets a visit

On Sunday, August 24, KoKo got a return visit from one of his biggest fans, MK. She first met KoKo last year when she was 4 years old and hasn't forgotten him, often reminding her Pappy about him and wondering how he might feel if someone laughed at him for being different than the rest of the herd. MK also helped feed the deer apples and corn, pumped water for them and was named "volunteer of the day".

Buddy

Buddy, photos by Jim Linton

Brenda and Jim Linton from Toronto were visitors recently. Here are two of my favourite photos taken by Jim, featuring the one and only Buddy. Buddy is keen to watch people at work and likes all things mechanical from cameras to backhoes.

Making hay while the sun doesn't shine

Allan with a barnful

Happy to report our barn is full of hay thanks to the hard work and generosity of Emerald Murphy, Bruce Burt, Don Murphy, Allan Park and Jane McDonald. In between rain storms, we managed to cut, bale and store about 360 square bales which are safely housed in the barn. We left the barn doors open shortly after the second batch of hay arrived, and when we went to close the doors we found George indulging in the fresh, sweet hay. Normal deer are not supposed to like being indoors, but George didn't seem to have a problem...what's new?

Bogert family visit

Cody feeds EGee, photo by Marion Bogert

On Friday afternoon, August 8, 2008 the Bogert family visited the Reserve to commune with their adopted deer: EGee, Spike and Bash. This family (three generations) continues to support the work of the Reserve and in return, the deer decided to give them the cast 2008 antlers of EGee and Spike. It was the first visit of Tasha to her four-legged adoptee, and she is convinced that her Bash is the most handsome of the herd. All agree that EGee is definitely one of the most friendly and he was happy to accept apples and carrots from Paige, Holly, Georgia and Cody. Spike is still a bit cautious about accepting food from human beings, but Cody had a good throw and made sure Spike got his share.

Many thanks to all the members of this generous family!

This year's wonky antlers

It looks like EGee is the one with the wonky antlers this year. We are not sure why, but his trey antlers are branched and this is unusual. In our three years working with the bucks, we haven't seen this variation. One theory is that because of the increase in number of flies this year, he has been using his antlers to scratch and somehow altered their shape by doing so. Any other theories out there?

This photo is from a weird angle and makes his palmation look huge, but it also shows his branched-out trey antlers. Trey antlers are halfway between the brow and the palm and are usually a single prong 5 or 6 inches in length.

The bucks are doing very well this summer. The frequent rains have kept them surrounded by growing green grass and they are enjoying every morsel. Thanks to Emerald and Don Murphy we have our barn almost full of hay bales and expect one more wagon full from Bruce Burt next week.

July is a great time to see their beautiful spotted coats and touch velvet antlers. We continue to be open every Sunday at 2pm and hope to see you at the Reserve soon.

Open Gate, Sunday, June 22, 2008

Bash greets Roland

Gulliver (r) greets Diane

At yesterday's Open Gate, Gulliver had a chance to say hello to his co-sponsor, Diane, who dropped by just before she heads to France to visit her twin grandsons, Alexandre and Edouard, who join her as co-sponsors of Gulliver.

A group from Ongwanada also joined us to help with feeding the deer, as well as a father and his two sons, Gilbert and Roland.

Request from Florida USA

A telephone call last Thursday came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (www.myfwc.com) who had been searching for some advice on feeding fallow deer on the Net. Of course, because we are on Florida Road, we came up close to the top! Also our interest in feeding the animals is for the sake of the animal, not the venison. We were happy to share our knowledge.

Bambi Ferree, an officer with the Commission, has been charged with looking after a solo male fallow deer who had been found on Florida's Panhandle "on the loose", tranquilized and brought to the Gainesville lab/area for testing about a week ago. She lives closest to the Lab, so she's become an instant deer keeper! Yes, she does get kidded about her name often, especially as she is researching brain wasting disease in white tail deer. If the buck passes all his health tests, he will be adopted, Bambi hopes. Potential adoptees are the family that found him, as no one in Florida USA has reported a missing buck. Because deer don't tend to roam too far away from the place of birth, we assume that he was from the northern part of Florida and kept without permit.

We shared with her the feeding program we have for our bucks which seems to be working well. From her description, "Panhandle" seems to be about the same age as our deer George and EGee. His antlers are in velvet and are about 15 inches in length already.

We are going to keep in touch and hope that Pan gets a good, safe place to live out his days.

Gates Open Sundays at 2pm

Starting Sunday June 1, 2008 we will be opening the gates for drop in visitors at 2pm. It's a good time to see the deer and participate in feeding them...up close and personal.

It's not necessary to make an appointment if you come out on Sundays at 2pm. Please leave any dogs at home as they can unsettle the deer. We have rustic washroom facilities. Those with limited mobility can drive up to the feeding area.

From Kingston, travel north on Highway 38 to Yarker Road, turn left and travel a short distance to Henderson Road, turn left and travel a short distance to Florida Road, turn left and travel south about 3km to 4265.

From Napanee, travel east to Wilton Road (exit 599 from 401) and turn north onto County Road 6, travel north and turn right at Simmons Road. Follow Simmons Road through the village of Wilton, up the graveyard hill until it ends at Florida Road, turn right and follow to 4265.

Casting Complete

All the bucks have casted off their antlers as of yesterday when Allan found the 26th and last one dropped by Spike in the afternoon -- all antlers have been found.

So here's this year's order:

Gulliver, April 10
Max, April 14
Dandy, April 15
Mike, April 16
Bash, April 18
Murph, April 19
George, April 22, 23
Buddy, April 25, 26
Ty, April 25
KoKo, April 29
EGee, April 29
Moki, April 29, May 1
Spike, May 3

As male hormones drop, so do the antlers. The bucks become adolescents again, almost fawn-like. They keep close to one another and seem to get along well now that the playing field is level -- no one deer can play leader because he has antlers and the others don't.

Solo antler

Here's a great photo of what George looks like with one antler. We can only imagine how lopsided it feels!

The bucks continue to drop their antlers and so far, we have found them all except for one. And that one belongs to George, his left antler missing in the photo, too.

We have searched high and low without success for the antler that fell on April 22. This is frustrating and surprising in that the very same thing happened last year. We only found one of George's antlers.



Here's the dropping order so far:

Gulliver, April 10
Max, April 14
Dandy, April 15
Mike, April 16
Bash, April 18
Murph, April 19
George, April 22, 23

Max, in second place

Max, Apr 14

Max cast off his antlers this morning, and the set were also easy to find. We were a bit worried about difficulties retrieving the antlers at the new site, but so far so good.

In what has become a tradition, Max's antlers will be presented to Don Murphy (President & Founder of Fallow Deer Reserve) as a belated birthday present. In all the excitement, we missed Don' s birthday on April 3.

Our First Cast Off

The first to cast off his antlers, oh so 2007, was Gulliver. This was at about 10 or 11am this morning and we are happy to report that we have found both. They are wider and about 2 or 3 inches longer than last year, when Gulliver also won the antler sweepstakes and dropped those first on April 8.

However, being first is not all it's cracked up to be. Without antlers, poor Gulliver is getting bullied by the others who still have theirs, and he had decided to separate from the herd and hang out in the forest near the spring creek. We found him there this afternoon and gave him his own special carrot nosh.

If last year's order is repeated, Max will be joining him in this self-imposed exile within the next 48 hours.

Spring cleaning, antler watch

Trio

Max at the lick

Spring has finally arrived and the snow has melted enough for us to get into the enclosure and start raking up the winter's hay to make way for grass. After several hours, we looked at the mound of raked hay and found these three making themselves at home.

It's been a long wicked winter but the herd is doing well and enjoying new mineral licks which we introduced this week to help prepare the bucks for antler growth. Thanks to everyone who has donated funds to make the purchase of such licks possible. Special thanks to Annie who donated 50 pounds of carrots on the occasion of her birthday on March 22, 2008.

We are anxiously waiting for the antlers to start falling but nothing so far. All antlers are still attached! Last year, Gulliver was first losing his on April 8, 2007. We'll keep you posted.

Texas sanctuary

Recently we received a telephone call from Laura F. in Fredericksburg, Texas (near Austin) who has a 350 acre ranch and has rescued several fallow deer fawns being auctioned. Apparently the "business" of canned hunting has fallen on hard times for economic reasons and she predicts that more operators will be selling unwanted deer in the months to come with little regard to the fate or welfare of these animals. If the fallow deer escape or are released to the wild, they can be hunted all year round without license as they are considered "exotics" in Texas.

Like us, she has fallen in love with fallow deer after having experience hand raising orphaned white tail deer fawns.

If you are in the USA and know of fallow deer in need of a permanent, safe sanctuary, please get in touch with us via comment to this entry we will connect you to Laura.

One of the greatest pleasures in this project is the opportunity to meet compassionate and interesting folk like Laura and we look forward to exchanging visits in the future.

KoKo loves apples

Janet Drew and her husband, Ron Heidebrecht, visited the Reserve on Tuesday after yoga class and Janet has sent us this great picture of KoKo enjoying a tasty bit of apple. All the deer were looking a bit bedraggled, damp from foggy, wet winter air, but KoKo managed to convey his satisfaction with fresh hay and crisp apples. Thanks, Janet, great photo.

Those long winter days

Mike, George and Spike

Moki on the right with his left ear now healed

We learn so much from these deer about being present in the here and now. As we drove to the Reserve today, we were complaining about the length of the winter, more snow, endless cold, etc. etc.

We started down the hill and saw these sights. Thirteen deer hanging out, together, content, chewing their cud, enjoying rest and soft hay. Just the perfect way to spend a January afternoon in the country.

Open waters

Don Murphy has brought his latest invention to the Reserve as of yesterday and we are happy to report that the deer now have 24 hour access to open, ice-free water despite temperatures overnight as low as -18 degrees Centigrade.

His invention doesn't have a name yet. It's about the size of a wood stove with three stockpots which are heated by a lantern with propane. The lantern is encased a vented, insulated metal box lined with aluminum foil. The single lantern heats all three pots of water thanks to a special spider-like contraption, again invented by Don, that transports the heat from the single lamp to all three pots. Ingenious.

We are 32 hours into the onsite trial and can report that we have observed Buddy and EGee enjoying a long drink and see no signs of ice in any of the pots. Don estimates that a single propane tank should keep the low level heat for up to 7 days. We continue to crack ice in other buckets for those less-courageous deer who have yet to discover the always open water source. Hopefully they will all find it soon helped by a few apples perched next to the bowls.

The same but different

When people visit the Reserve, they always express surprise that we can identify the individual deer. Aside from KoKo who is easy to recognize given his chocolate colour, at first sight the rest of the deer look very alike.

Having worked with the bucks for over 19 months, we know that each one is quite different and unique in both appearance and personality.

Here's how we tell them apart.

Max, the leader, is a large deer with one of the largest sets of antlers and a golden colour especially on his head and back of neck. He often stands in the middle of the herd, but never gets challenged by other bucks. (A challenge is when a deer lowers his head and antlers and moves towards another in a determined way. Sometimes the deer will tilt his head and show one eye to the other deer. )

Dandy, is usually the second in command. He is probably the largest deer in body size but his antlers don't have the wide palmation of the other large deer. He is very calm.

Mike is next in herd hierarchy but sometimes he vies with Dandy to gain status to second. He looks quite a bit like Max and has large antlers. However, his right brow antler is bent over his right eye in an odd way caused by a collision with a barricade when the deer were being moved to Florida from Scotland Road in May last year. Mike is very social towards people. We hope his antlers return to normal this year.

Gulliver is another large deer with the largest palmation of antlers. He seems to be the big brother of Moki (one of our youngest and smallest) who is a constant companion. Gulliver will often let Moki "play fight/challenge" with him but never exerts the full power he could if the fight were for real. Gulliver likes to chase smaller deer at feeding time, doing his best to get all the food for himself, but he never challenges a deer that is larger than himself.

Murph is a large deer with exceptionally long antlers with good palmation and many spellers (or branches). He has a dark coat, but not quite as dark as KoKo. He is very independent and spends time away from the herd on his own. He is not that interested in people...can take or leave 'em.

Bash is a large light-coloured deer with large antlers that have many spellers and very straight brow antlers. He, too, is somewhat independent and will leave the herd to go on his own. He likes to bully Buddy who is also light-coloured. Bash used to be very frightened of people, but he is becoming very social these days.

Ty has a compact body, a muddy brown colour and very wide palmated antlers with many spellers. Like Bash, he was very fearful of people when we first started working with the herd, now he doesn't seem too worried by us. He never challenges large deer for food or water, but bullies all the other deer the same size or smaller than him.

Buddy is a medium-sized light coloured deer. His brow antlers turn inward instead of straight ahead which gives him a slightly cock-eyed, cute appearance. His personality is carefree and he's very curious about people and what they are doing whether it be building a shelter, digging or hauling water. He will run away from food to get a good view of human beings at work.

EGee is a medium-sized deer with shorter palmated antlers, few spellers and long straight brow antlers. He has a dark brown winter coat with a splash of white on his right side where he was injured last winter. He is very social and calm and only occasionally will he bully George or KoKo at feeding time to get in the best position.

George looks like the other medium-sized deer in appearance except for his antlers this year which have little or no palmation. Our theory is that this odd antler formation was caused by the anti-inflammatory medication he was given last winter after suffering a "shoulder" injury. We hope that his antlers return to normal this year. George is definitely the most social of the deer and he can be a nuisance if you are working inside the fence as he has no fear of people and will invade human space quite easily.

KoKo is our most recognizable deer because he is very dark in colour and even in summer he has very faint "spots" on his chocolate-coloured back. He has a compact, you might say round body and he is very social and calm. He is the one most likely to be hanging out in the shelter of the woods rather than the person-made shelter attached to the barn. He seems to like to hang out with Ty or Buddy.

Moki is one of our youngest at 3 years of age. His antlers are palmated but smaller than all the other deer (except for Spike). His right brow antler bends to the right and this winter he lost the top of his left ear as a result of a tussle with Spike towards the end of the rut.

Spike is the other 3 year old with antlers similar to those of Moki. He is the only deer in our herd with a brown tail which makes him a "menil" fallow deer. Spike is social and curious and likes to hang out with George and fight with Moki.