Its like there saying.. "damm Steve spotted me...lol"
Cool photos Steve! :)

You must have incredible patience to get these photos.
And you are so lucky to see them so much. I know they destroy your roses, but I am envious. I used to have a cabin where, if we were very quiet, we would see them. But they are so cautious that they don't want to be very near.

jealous andrea

Dang! I thought you really shot them! LOL Damn forest rodents...

andreark ........

There are so many deer here that I don't have to be cautious when I see them, I just have to make sure I do see them so I don't hit them with my car. Last week, I had to nudge one off of the road so I could use the road to get to town. He wasn't going to move.

Bambi stopped being cute for me a long, long time ago. It's just that the deer populations is so far out of control that they are now deemed to be pests.

Smiles,
Lyn

I just need to grab my camera when I see them and they are in my yard every day. The does and fawns are suburban deer and they are about as skittish as raccoons who take their time leaving just to show how little they fear you. The buck just started showing up and is keeping an eye on his family. He's very careful and I have a lot of pictures of his butt.

Here's a link to an article about California deer:

http://www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/California-deer-face-more-challenges-than-ever-4833244.php

Some highlights:
============================================
Your local deer: Many deer now spend their entire lives in a 5-mile radius, often in local parks, golf courses and the backyards of foothills homes.

Car vs. deer: Your odds of hitting a deer with your car in California are roughly 1 in 1,046, according to State Farm Insurance.
=============================================
I've never hit a deer, but I had one run into the side of my car. No damage to car or deer.

Steve,

Lovely article. I have lived in areas where they are a nuisance, but my dogs are also a nuisance, and I love them dearly.

Thanks for posting all your wonderful shots.

andrea

The bucks come out of hiding to mate in the fall. I don't know where are the rest of the year. My local fellow has bad leg, but it obviously doesn't slow him down. He's been here year after year.

I'll trade your dear for our skunks lol

Skunks.... ugh. Went to let the dog out one last time before we went to bed last night... had to call her back in immediately! I smelled it as soon as she ran out the door. My son ran out of his room yelling "Don't let her out! There's a skunk outside!" He had his windows open and the rest of the house was closed up, so I didn't smell it til I opened the door. It's amazing your reaction time when you get that whiff!! And she's such a stupid dog. We've had her what... 3 yrs now, and she's been skunked 3 times in the first 2yrs!

Our dog is 12 and has been skunked twice. 2 nights ago was the worst one. He took a direct hit to the face and breast. It smelled as if someone burned a very large pot of onions. Our eyes were tearing, nose running, made us all gag and worse! Today it smells like someone had a perm in our house. No where near as bad as 2 nights ago. We washed him up right away with Dawn dish liquid. No tomato juice needed. Just a few good washings and rinses with dawn. The skunk spray is oils they shoot out of ...well you know. The dish liquid cuts through that grease and lifts it out of the dogs coat. Febreze does nothing!!!

My husband has a habit of letting the dogs out very late at night and then forgetting about them. I'm already sound asleep when this happens. I woke up because the smell was so intense I gagged in my sleep. My husband couldn't smell a thing even though the dog was right under his nose. He's that badly congested. I'm still doing laundry to try and get the smell out of the towels and bath mats.

So give me your deer in exchange for a skunk :D

edited to add that since he's been skunked he wouldn't go outside last night no matter how much begged him. My husband even went out first and said ...see no skunks! But Buddy wasn't having any of that lol Luckily for us he has never had an accident. He's great at holding it. This morning though you can bet he was sitting at the door waiting to go out lol

This post was edited by sunflowersrus222 on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 12:35

Dogs and skunks...some just do not get it. My bosses dog got skunked 3 nights in a row and was still wanting to get out and get them the next night. He is a hunting dog so that is his nature.

Nice!

I'll gladly trade anyone my deer for a few skunks. Skunks have been around SW Idaho forever, but deer began being a problem more recently. Could it be, as I mentioned on another thread, that in 1900, there were three to five hundred thousand deer in the US, and now there are about 27,000,000, and they have nowhere to go? Due to restrictive hunting practices, a falling number of hunters, the killing of top predators, and perhaps, Fish and Game protecting and growing its own turf, deers' numbers have gown exponentially. Two nights ago, deer raided my backyard and ate just about every bloom and bud growing on my roses, not to mention that they won't leave the tomatoes alone. I dumped a lot of Deer Scram around the back perimeter, but I know it won't make much difference--sigh. Diane

Guess you're not ready for some recipes?

Best way to approach deer during the day is on a riding lawnmower; ours just look at me on the mower coming at them, and they don't run until I'm about 75 feet away.

Nanadoll, FWIW the population of whitetailed deer in 1900 dropped to those historic lows due to european market hunting. The population estimate was about 30 million before this. Currently we have approx. historic numbers even given an increased distribution range.

Have a great day!

SCG

SCG. I see you checked the first listing of a Google search on deer population.

You have great day, too.

Diane

No disrespect, but shouldn't have you searched before posting misleading facts? I also didn't need google, it was brought up in hunter education, as was the demise of buffalo. Your numbers are correct but, and but, there is a reason: the early advance of European hunters.

Sorry if the thread got hijacked. No offence intended just looking to keep the facts straight.

SCG