Allan's photo of the reserve from a flight with Chris GroomsHere is an aerial photo of the Reserve taken by Allan Park, our head deer keeper in early March just before the snow melted.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Worm free status confirmed
Allan's photo of the reserve from a flight with Chris GroomsHere is an aerial photo of the Reserve taken by Allan Park, our head deer keeper in early March just before the snow melted.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
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.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Annual General Meeting Minutes
Third Annual General Meeting
FALLOW DEER RESERVE
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 5:15pm, Kingston, Ontario
Present: Don Murphy, President, Jane McDonald, Treasurer, Allan Park, Head Deer Keeper, Lorraine Alderman, Aida Sulcs, Board Members
Regrets: Wendy Workman, Monique Cloutier
The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm. The Agenda for this meeting was approved as well as the minutes of the 2009 Annual General Meeting held in February 2009.
The President welcomed all present and gave a brief summary of the activities of this year. The 2009 hunting season brought with it no extraordinary incidents. He praised the work of the team this year especially Allan Park, head deerkeeper.
Copies of the financial statements for the period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 were distributed to those present by the Treasurer, reviewed and accepted. Sales of antlers (to artists, especially Dandi Maestre) and fundraising activities netted more money than expected. Purchase of horse trailer and additional fencing materials made possible because of this increase in revenue. Increase in bank fees caused by having to purchase cheques. A Budget for 2010 was presented indicating anticipated new revenue of $4185(excluding surplus) and expenses of approx $4715.The financial statements and budget were reviewed. A motion was made by Aida Sulcs, seconded by Don Murphy that these reports be accepted and approved by unanimous vote.
All offices were declared vacant. The following were nominated to serve as officers in 2010:
President: Don Murphy, Secretary: Wendy Workman, Treasurer: Jane McDonald
The above nominations were approved by unanimous vote.
The Head Deer Keeper, Allan Park, thanked the board members (security, sign making, winter water heating) as well as Emerald Murphy and Bruce Burt for their time, hay donations and companionship. He reported the occurrences leading up to KoKo’s death. A post mortem examination done by the Animal Health Lab, University of Guelph (Kemptville) indicated a chronic abscess in his jaw that led to emaciation and his death. The veterinarian who did the exam estimated KoKo’s age to be 10 years, about 2 years older than we had believed. Allan shared some of his observations and memories of KoKo, one of the most recognizable and loved of our bucks. Dr. Brian Willows had inspected the herd on December 29, 2009 and found the remaining 10 bucks to be in excellent “awesome' condition. Communications had been received from people near Lake Simcoe who are caring for a wild escaped fallow deer buck and from a reporter in Waterford concerning 12 fallow deer bucks living on 17 acres, descendants of a herd there since 1949. Female deer had been killed by coyotes and the township wants to bring in new females to continue the herd. However, in the past this herd was regularly “culled”. We had expressed our concern about this and recommended an approach similar to that of the Fallow Deer Reserve, i.e. let the males live until death occurs naturally.
Future plans, considerations:
Veterinary care: Lorraine recommended testing the deer’s scat for the presence of worms/parasites before any chemical treatment is administered. It may not be necessary. All agreed this was the best approach.
Shelter/squeeze: A discussion took place about creating an additional paddock adding approximately ½ acre to the enclosure for the purpose of isolating an injured or unhealthy animal or the introduction of a new animal. The former stable of the barn can be considered for a squeeze in order to examine or test animals and would also provide the bucks with additional shelter.
Rescuing/introducing additional fallow deer bucks: A good discussion took place about the future, purpose of the Fallow Deer Reserve. It was generally agreed that introducing a new animal to the herd could be problematic and that each situation be considered carefully. Three conditions would need to be met before a new animal could be accepted.
1) the buck would need to pass all health tests in order to prevent introducing disease to our herd
2) the buck would need to be in a moveable state, i.e. having recently lost antlers or very small regrowth
3) the buck would need to 3 years of age or less so that his chances of being accepted into the herd would be good
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm.
FALLOW DEER RESERVE
Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 5:15pm, Kingston, Ontario
Present: Don Murphy, President, Jane McDonald, Treasurer, Allan Park, Head Deer Keeper, Lorraine Alderman, Aida Sulcs, Board Members
Regrets: Wendy Workman, Monique Cloutier
The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm. The Agenda for this meeting was approved as well as the minutes of the 2009 Annual General Meeting held in February 2009.
The President welcomed all present and gave a brief summary of the activities of this year. The 2009 hunting season brought with it no extraordinary incidents. He praised the work of the team this year especially Allan Park, head deerkeeper.
Copies of the financial statements for the period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 were distributed to those present by the Treasurer, reviewed and accepted. Sales of antlers (to artists, especially Dandi Maestre) and fundraising activities netted more money than expected. Purchase of horse trailer and additional fencing materials made possible because of this increase in revenue. Increase in bank fees caused by having to purchase cheques. A Budget for 2010 was presented indicating anticipated new revenue of $4185(excluding surplus) and expenses of approx $4715.The financial statements and budget were reviewed. A motion was made by Aida Sulcs, seconded by Don Murphy that these reports be accepted and approved by unanimous vote.
All offices were declared vacant. The following were nominated to serve as officers in 2010:
President: Don Murphy, Secretary: Wendy Workman, Treasurer: Jane McDonald
The above nominations were approved by unanimous vote.
The Head Deer Keeper, Allan Park, thanked the board members (security, sign making, winter water heating) as well as Emerald Murphy and Bruce Burt for their time, hay donations and companionship. He reported the occurrences leading up to KoKo’s death. A post mortem examination done by the Animal Health Lab, University of Guelph (Kemptville) indicated a chronic abscess in his jaw that led to emaciation and his death. The veterinarian who did the exam estimated KoKo’s age to be 10 years, about 2 years older than we had believed. Allan shared some of his observations and memories of KoKo, one of the most recognizable and loved of our bucks. Dr. Brian Willows had inspected the herd on December 29, 2009 and found the remaining 10 bucks to be in excellent “awesome' condition. Communications had been received from people near Lake Simcoe who are caring for a wild escaped fallow deer buck and from a reporter in Waterford concerning 12 fallow deer bucks living on 17 acres, descendants of a herd there since 1949. Female deer had been killed by coyotes and the township wants to bring in new females to continue the herd. However, in the past this herd was regularly “culled”. We had expressed our concern about this and recommended an approach similar to that of the Fallow Deer Reserve, i.e. let the males live until death occurs naturally.
Future plans, considerations:
Veterinary care: Lorraine recommended testing the deer’s scat for the presence of worms/parasites before any chemical treatment is administered. It may not be necessary. All agreed this was the best approach.
Shelter/squeeze: A discussion took place about creating an additional paddock adding approximately ½ acre to the enclosure for the purpose of isolating an injured or unhealthy animal or the introduction of a new animal. The former stable of the barn can be considered for a squeeze in order to examine or test animals and would also provide the bucks with additional shelter.
Rescuing/introducing additional fallow deer bucks: A good discussion took place about the future, purpose of the Fallow Deer Reserve. It was generally agreed that introducing a new animal to the herd could be problematic and that each situation be considered carefully. Three conditions would need to be met before a new animal could be accepted.
1) the buck would need to pass all health tests in order to prevent introducing disease to our herd
2) the buck would need to be in a moveable state, i.e. having recently lost antlers or very small regrowth
3) the buck would need to 3 years of age or less so that his chances of being accepted into the herd would be good
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sad news
We are very sorry to report that KoKo, our only black fallow buck, died on Friday, January 8, 2010.
In December we noticed that he was drooling after eating and one of his cheeks was swollen. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. He was eating hay, treats and we had observed him up on his hind feed reaching for some tender cedar bits. The other deer were not bullying him or altering their behaviour towards him in any way as we had observed when George had an injured leg several years ago.
Our vet, Dr. Brian Willows of Thousand Islands Veterinary Services, examined KoKo on December 29, 2009. An abscessed tooth was suspected or perhaps "lumpy jaw". We could have tranquilized him to examine the mouth, but that procedure is not without danger especially in very cold weather. So, we began to give him antibiotics twice daily by feeding him a paste embedded in an apple and this was to be given for 14 days. If nothing changed, we would then consider tranquilizing. We noticed some weight loss but nothing extreme and thought it was related to the meds.
On Friday morning Allan fed KoKo his meds and watched him eat a bit of hay and then disappear into the woods. He seemed to be steady on his feet but oddly vocalized a bit making some grunts as he left the feeding area. In the afternoon there was no sign of him. Allan searched for over an hour and found him in a cedar grove. There were no signs of trauma. His front legs were still folded. It appears that he had collapsed and died suddenly trying to get up.
Dr. Willows was just as surprised as we were about KoKo's sudden death. We took the body to the Animal Health Lab at the University of Guelph in Kemptville for a post mortem examination.The preliminary report from the Lab indicates he was suffering from chronic mandibular osteomyelitis, tooth abscess and emaciation. The infection of his mouth had moved into the jaw and bones and was a chronic condition. Although we observed him eating and drinking, he was unable to chew his feed and was unable to create fat stores. This resulted in mild mass atrophy. The weight loss was hard to notice because of the thickness of his winter coat.
As someone has suggested, wild animals often keep their weakness hidden to protect them from predators or loss of status, and it appears that KoKo was a master at this. Or else, he was just as unaware of the seriousness of his plight as we were. In any event, we take some comfort that he did not suffer for very long, if at all.
The only good news is there appears to be no infectious disease which would harm the other members of the herd who are doing well. A sample of his brain tissue was sent for testing to ensure there was no rabies or chronic wasting disease.
We asked the Lab to determine KoKo's age and it was 10 years, about 2 years older than we thought. As you know we had no records of any of the deer rescued from the farm where they were born. When Wendy and Don bought the whole herd in 2005, KoKo had a large abscess on his flank. The farmer recommended euthanization, a recommendation that was not followed. Also earlier this year, he caught his antlers on the fence and was rescued once again.
He was a true survivor, well-loved by all who visited him. His dark coat made him easy for kids to identify and he trusted people enough to eat from their hands.
We miss him very much and wish we could have understood how ill he was. The knowledge we have gained from his loss will help us to keep his brothers healthy and strong.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
KoKo's Christmas wishMay your antlers never be entangled in a fence
May your brothers always be there beside you
May your path be one of peace and free of ice
May your blessings be many
May your hay always be sweet
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Calendars 2010 are ready!
Our 2010 desktop calendars are ready. For only $20 you receive calendar and an income tax receipt for $10 as we are a registered Canadian charity.
The handy coiled calendars have 13 different photos of our bucks and indicate important dates in 2010 and for the Reserve. A great gift.
To order, send cheque or money order for $20 Canadian dollars per calendar, payable to Fallow Deer Reserve, c/o 204 Simmons Road RR2, Odessa ON K0H 2H0 Canada.
We appreciate your support!
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