My seed catalogs finally arrived! There was a delay due to the fact that we moved this past year, so I had to re-request them. Is there anything more fun than pouring through the catalogs and dreaming of luscious gardens filled with ripening vegetables?
As this is our first year here and being that there is no established garden, I'm more inclined to put a container garden in. This will give me a better idea of where the sunlight falls, how near the water supply is, and allow me to establish time for a compost bin. The only drawback to this plan is not having any seasoned compost or soil to start with, so we may have to bite the bullet and purchased some good composted loam (organic, I hope) for starters.
It may be sub-zero out with the windchill factor and the ground may be covered with snow, but I'm ready to start my seedlings a.s.a.p. More on that another time...
This pic is a little hard to see, but the two deer in the background are issuing a challenge to each other over who gets near the food. Note the deer in the middle's posture with ears back and ready to kick out with her front legs. All this was was "posturing" and no one touched each other. The deer on the right backed down right away and retreated back in the woods, thus the hierarchy was maintained. This occasional conflict is part and parcel of the deer's social structure, however, it was the first time I've actually witnessed the "up on hind legs challenge," so it was pretty exciting to see.
What I find most amusing is the doe on the left casually watching the whole thing take place - another indication that this is a common occurrence. I will try to locate the actual video footage and post it, but once again, Mother Nature settled everything quite peacefully, and everyone had a chance to eat.
Are you a leader or a follower? When the plane makes a sudden jolt, or co-workers begin to argue about who gets credit for a project, are you the person who takes a back seat to watch the drama unfold or are you the person who stands up and reassures everyone on the plane it will be okay, or makes peace with your work peers? Everyone has their place of comfort - some are born leaders, others learn how to lead, and the majority of people follow along - content in being part of the crowd. There's no right or wrong, no good or bad. Where we fit in in our social circles has much to do with our temperaments, our family dynamics, our personal history, etc. Take comfort in knowing that even in a deer herd, these same strong social hierarchies exist.
Most people associate this "Who's the Boss" behavior with bucks who will fight antler to antler at the risk of injury, even death, to decide who dominates, but female deer also have a strong social structure with some of the does being "higher up" than the others. The "lead doe" rules the female herd. This "Queen Doe" is the one who gets first dibs on the best spot to have her fawns in the spring, gets first crack at whatever food is available, and makes sure that others understand her position through a series of moves including nudges, head raising, stare downs, kicks, and when she really means business, rearing up at the other deer in her herd.
This social behavior is practiced early on by fawns in playful moves like kicking at each other and rearing but they are learning an important lesson on what their position in the social ranks is. This video shows a more dominant doe kicking at a younger one, who is likely her own fawn, to let her know who's boss and who gets access to the food first. Note, no animals were injured during the filming of this video. As usual, Mother Nature sorts everything out just the way it's supposed to be.
It was a banner day for the deer. Our usual "three" have grown to eight! The herd traveled together, which is unusual but may have been due to the temperate weather. To watch them emerge from the woods and keep doing so was amazing. This little one had the smart idea of getting right to the feeding block rather than wasting a lot of time dancing around trying to figure out who the lead doe was. Smart little gal. She eventually got bumped off by a mama doe, but got her licks in while she could.
My seed catalogs finally arrived! There was a delay due to the fact that we moved this past year, so I had to re-request them. Is there anything more fun than pouring through the catalogs and dreaming of luscious gardens filled with ripening vegetables?
