All Quiet With The Deer - The Fawns Are Hiding
Things are very quiet at the moment. The grass has been cut, but after all the noise and disturbance, Kinder is keeping her fawns well hidden in the bushy undergrowth. I managed to track her down in one of the fields - spending a lot of time around one area particularly. Her reluctance to wander far, undoubtedly due to her fawns that were probably residing deep within the nearby hawthorn and blackthorn bushes.
Sooner or later, she'd want to go down; here she is sniffing out a suitable spot to take a rest.
Having settled herself down into a comfortable lie, she kept watch over the area. Marauding foxes are an ever present threat to her young fawns; the sight of a red, brush tailed beast, would see her spring to her feet and give chase. I've not seen her do that this year (although it's almost certain to have occurred when I've not been present), but I do remember seeing Sable give a prolonged chase to a errant fox one evening last summer.
After quite a while in her recumbent position, Kinder looked a little tired and let out a big yawn. On this occasion, she didn't actually lay her head down to sleep, though, she merely enjoyed to enjoyed her cud and solitude.
After a nearly two hours and with it starting get brighter, she got up and started to move into the thick cover. I noticed her coat looked rather patchy at the moment. The are a few reasons for this - one of them is that her body is working very hard at this time, not only keep herself in good condition, but also to produce copious amounts of milk to feed her hungry fawns. Hence her less than perfect condition. And that will probably continue until her youngsters are fully weaned, which could be as late as the end of August.
As it got sunnier, I left, leaving her well hidden in the long, jungle like interior of the hawthorns.
As I came back next morning, I found her back in the same area - doing what she does best at the moment, resting!
