Life is good

Exploring the new enclosure

 
Here's what happened when we opened the gates on Sunday, December 5, 2010 and let the bucks explore the new space (about an acre)...new grass and, of course, trees and bushes on which to thrash. Moki and Mike made mincemeat of a small cedar bush in the photo above. No one had problems entering into the new "playground" through the sliding gate designed by Don Murphy. Present to watch the show were Don, Allan Park, Jane McDonald and Wendy Workman who took the photos seen above.

Who knew? Antler Sweepstake Winner 2010

Moki, September 2009

You'll never guess who dropped his antlers today, the first this year. None other than Moki who was one of our "babies" when the bucks first came to the Reserve in 2007.

Here's the list from the past two years and you'll find Moki was way down the list in 2008 and in the middle in 2009.

2008
1. Gulliver -- April 10, 2008
2 .Max -- April 14, 2008
3. Mike -- April 16, 2008
4. Bash -- April 18, 2008
5. Murph -- April 19, 2008
6. George -- April 22, 23, 2008
7. Buddy -- April 25, 26, 2008
8. KoKo -- April 29, 2008
9. EGee -- April 29, 2008
10. Moki -- April 29, May 1, 2008
11. Spike -- May 3, 2008

2009
1. Gulliver -- Apr 6 & 7, 2009
2. Murph -- April 7 & 8, 2009
3. Bash -- April 8, 2009
4. Max -- April 10, 2009
5. Moki -- April 14, 2009
6. Buddy -- April 14, 2009
7. George -- April 15, 2009
8. KoKo -- April 15, 2009
9. Mike -- April 19, 2009
10. EGee -- April 21, 2009
11. Spike -- April 21, 2009

Moki meets Mike again

The presentation:
Don Murphy, left, Moki in the middle, Mike Ivanic, right

Today, Mike and Linda Ivanic visited the Reserve to receive a very special gift -- Moki's antlers which he cast off on April 14, 2009. You may recall that Mike was the bowhunter who single handedly and with great patience coaxed Moki into the horse trailer following the vandalism that allowed him to escape the Reserve last November. Check out the blog entry, "Moki's love story" for all the details.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mischief and Moki

Moki is one of two smallest deer with more brown colouring on his mid belly than Spike. Of the two, Moki was most fearful of humans, weather, loud noises and such when we first started observing the herd.

As we speak and as his antlers continue to develop, Moki is emerging from his shell and is now coming closer and closer to people, unafraid and determined to get his share of all food offered.

He looks like a small version of Gulliver with white legs and chest and has a similar temperament: unpredictable. Sometimes he spaces out and fails to notice food at his feet. Sometimes he chases other deer or tries to mount them which is surprising to watch because of his small size and low status in the herd.

He got his name from the native American (Hopi) word for deer.