Monday, July 18, 2011

Your Weekly Fawn Part II

There has been plenty of fawn activity in front of my camera sets over the past few weeks.

Here some most recent pictures.

I've got two separate sets of twins at completely different sites.

Here's the first pair.  Momma's looking a wee bit skinny. 

Trying to consume enough calories to feed twins, while also meeting her own metabolic needs must be a herculean task (especially with the brutal heat we've had lately).  Research investigating the energetic demands on female Black-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) that are lactating to feed juveniles illustrates what I'm talking about.  According to Sadlier (1982), female Black-tailed Deer that are lactating and feeding a single fawn consume 135% of the food/energy intake of non-lactating females.  Females lactating to feed twins consumed 170% of the intake of non-lactating does!


Here's the twins from the other site.

This momma looks a bit more heathly.



A couple of does with only one mouth to feed are also hanging around...
I think this is the same fawn as in the picture above.  This fawn and momma pass by this camera at fairly regular intervals.

More fawns in the future, I hope!

Literature Cited:

Sadleir, R.M.F.S. 1982. Energy consumption and subsequent partitioning in lactating black-tailed deer.  Canadian Journal of Zoology 60:382-386.

6 comments:

  1. It may just be walking but it also looks like the doe in the top picture may be holding her back leg up like it is injured. I saw limping doe, looking like skelator just the other day which made me notice the possibility in the picture.

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  2. I've noticed that the does in my area appear to be skinnier than normal this year also.

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  3. Ya know...now that you mention it....I got shots of another very skinny (almost emaciated) looking doe last week.

    I'm going to try and insert the links to the pictures in my photobucket account....we'll see if it works!

    [IMG]http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae316/jkapfer/R_PICT0015-2.jpg[/IMG]

    [IMG]http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae316/jkapfer/R_PICT0030-2.jpg[/IMG]

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  4. Beautiful fawns but it is hard to imagine how a doe can eat enough to nourish two fawns and herself! I haven't noticed our fawns looking thin but it's not so hot up here and our forest is extremely lush compared to other summers.

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  5. Great photos Trailblazer! I have only seen a couple of fawns this summer. Last year I found two sets of twins, and one set of triplets. I never saw the moms of any of these sets to sees how thin they were. Mama sure is thin in that first pic.

    Bill

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  6. Thanks, KB and Knapperbill!

    Bill, I actually had a set of triplets at one of these sites last year too. Haven't seen another set this year either.

    Last year must have been the year for triplets. :)

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