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.