Where Are Kinder's Fawns?

Kinder walks across the field to lay down and cud.

There's not a lot to mention this week. Another week has passed and it's still very difficult to spot Kinder with her fawns. This is quite normal, of course. Roe deer fawns at this young age are still very vulnerable and staying well hidden in the long growth, is a good survival strategy. Just like last week, Mum is spending quite a lot of time hanging around one particular area - moving around the fields' borders, feeding and then resting up to digest her intake. Judging by the large amount she's been eating, the fawns are certainly drinking their fill when they do suckle.

Here she is, moving around just after sunrise.

Kinder moving along a bush line, just after sunrise

A little later in the morning, I went looking for her twin brother, Brock. I found him in one of his favourite fields, a few hundred metres away. Like all male roe deer at this time of the year, he's become very solitary, and with the annual rut being just two to three away weeks away, he'll be on the look out for receptive does so he can father his first fawns.

Brock wandering around the fields' edges.

This year I've been concentrating on studying and following Kinder with her fawns, however the next morning, I got to see Kinder and Brock's mother, Sable. She gave birth to a single fawn back in the first half of May. She took a while to track down, but eventually Sable was located, and here she is standing still, taking a rest as its started to rain. By the looks of it, Sable's in fine condition, with a lovely dark brown coat with virtually no bare patches in her pelage.

Kinder and Brock's mother, stands alone in the rain.

After the rain had stopped, I suspected Kinder would be up and feeding again. When I found her, she was just about to lay down in an open part of a field to cud.

Kinder's fawns are proving to be very elusive at the moment, and that's a good thing. Very soon, they will need to follow their mother around to learn, by example, the ways and wiles of a wild roe deer. The fawns will need to be big enough and strong enough to run from danger, and keep up with their mum.

By being patient, the youngsters will eventually be revealed again...... when Kinder (and the fawns) are ready.