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.