The Return of Courage

On October 15, Courage our deer with the injured leg returned.  She had been missing for six days following a period of very heavy vehicle traffic on the previous Sunday. Sadly, one of her twin fawns had died about three weeks earlier after being hit by a car.  Even after it's death, Courage and her remaining fawn were daily visitors to our yard.  

Several times I had scanned the sky on our side of the mountain for signs of any of the carrion eaters: ravens, crows and vultures that screech out the news of a death. There were none. 

Courage's remaining fawn returned to our yard several times a day, sometimes obviously waiting for her. Below, he looks like a miniature adult dwarfed by interrupted fern and large hosta leaves.

Here is a closeup of his head.  Looking at it closely, you can see the brown spot between his ear and eye where he will someday have horns.

Six days after her disappearance, the little buck was lingering in our yard, sampling the flowers in my garden.  On the other side of the garage out of his view, I saw Courage, at long last, making her way slowly down the hill.  I was so happy to see that she was still alive. I watched to see the reunion, and suddenly, the little one was beside her excitedly trying to nurse.

Because most fawns are weaned by the time their spots are gone, the little one began to wear out his welcome.  Courage kept moving every time he nuzzled her.  Eventually, a little nip sent him to a clump of grass where he began to eat grown-up food.

Courage and her fawn now show up late every afternoon, lingering sometimes until almost dark.  She continues to lie down outside of our fence while he slips in through the hole that we haven't yet fixed.  Below, Courage grazes and can be partially seen although the Japanese Maple blocks most of her from our view.

This little deer has become a regular visitor to our garden.  Today, I pounded on the window when I saw him browsing from a container in which I had just planted pansies.  Like a cartoon character, he looked up with a yellow pansy dangling from between his teeth.  I finally opened up the porch door and soundly scolded him for his choice of snacks.  Totally unafraid, he obliged by moving away from the pansies and began feeding on some lily leaves that will soon fall victim to a freeze anyhow.

                                       

I realize that someday, he may become a major nuisance to us, but for now, he is just so darn cute. It's for special moments like these, that I was so irresistibly drawn back to these mountains and rural life.

Our Special Friend

A misty September morning

The first summer after I returned to this area, I made the mistake of getting attached to some of the deer.  In particular, two does stood out that always
traveled together. The one mother was ever vigilant and always protective of her twin fawns.  The other doe would graze with her fawn and never seemed to be concerned for her safety.  As could be predicted, that doe disappeared the first day of gun season.  The other mother deer showed up with what were obviously injuries due to a collision with a car. All three fawns were with her, but one of hers also seemed to have a seriously injured leg.

As winter came, the doe continued to get thinner in spite of our putting food out for her, and her difficulty in walking continued.  Her fawn's leg was thicker in the injury area so it was easily identifiable. Eventually, the weakened doe subcombed to fate and disappeared, but the three young ones continued to graze in the area. The last time I saw them, it was nearly spring.  The young deer were crossing the road, and one was dragging a leg as it attempted to walk. Such a sad ending for these beautiful creatures.

Well, I did it again, I became attached to one of the does that frequent our area.

Let me introduce "Courage" our doe who only has three legs that she can walk on.  Her right front foot has been badly injured.

"Courage"

As a breast cancer survivor who has seen some rough times, I really appreciate the strength, determination and courage that this deer has shown in her struggle to raise fawns, survive severe winters and just to travel about.

It was late 2008 when Courage first came to my attention.  She was attempting to walk on only three legs. I'm sure she had been in our field many times, but now with her huge handicap, she stood out.  What happened to her is unknown.  Perhaps a trap or some kind of injury to her leg resulted in this life changing event.  Every time she attempted to walk on her three normal legs, she would slip and nearly fall. It was so sad to watch her, especially when the ground was wet.  Her struggle just to move became even more difficult. The other deer left her behind and soon she was only seen alone.

In early summer of 2009, I was surprised to see her appear in our field with a tiny fawn.  Future sightings of her were alone.  Maybe she wasn't strong enough to feed her baby or protect it from predators.  We watched her throughout the season marveling that she hadn't been hit on the road. Courage seemed to like to stay close by and over time, paid little attention to our comings and goings.

The winter of 2009-2010 was especially difficult with deep snows.  I stopped measuring in early January when we had exceeded 100 inches.  Although I do not have an exact measurement for the area around our house, my guess is that we received at least 175 inches before winter ended.

As usual, Courage had disappeared as soon as hunting season began during the previous fall.  We feared the worst for her and couldn't imagine how she could move about enough to forage for food in such deep snow. To our delight, she reappeared in early summer with twins.  Unfortunately, it wasn't long until she was bringing only one fawn to graze in the field with her.

Last fall, with doe season in progress, we hoped that with only three useful legs, she would not fall victim to a hunter looking for an easy kill. In early spring I was overjoyed to see that once again she had survived.  This year I began documenting her journey after my husband saw her and took pictures of her, early one morning, with her tiny twins. What a nice surprise she presented us with.

These are her fawns on June 15.  In the photo below, one of her tiny fawns nuzzles her looking for some food.

By September 24, they had become quite active and like all siblings, delighted in racing about and chasing each other.  Here is a quiet moment while Mom rests and they refuel for another playful episode.

They were growing up, but just like toddlers, they still wanted the comfort of the closeness with their mother.

Courage seemed to fatigue easily and to rest more than I had ever noticed previously. This picture was taken in mid September and her fur was changing on the top of her back to a deeper brown for winter.

Here she grooms one of her babies.  As I watched her, I wondered what it must be like for her.  She is a deer that always travels alone, unable to keep up with the others. Now she has two precious babies that she watches over and that go with her almost everywhere.

Sadly, that was the last time that I saw her with both fawns. By late September, she did not come around for several days.  While my husband was mowing, he came across a dead fawn which further increased our concerns for the safety of Courage and her little family.  We watched, hoping to see her emerge from the woods with both babies.  Finally, we saw her but only with one fawn.

Courage began to stay closer to the house in an area bordered on one side by woods and on the other by a seven foot fence that keeps the deer out of the flower and vegetable gardens.  One day, early last week, we looked out to see her fawn peering around inside our flower garden while it's mom continued to graze in the grassy area outside of the fence. We watched as the fawn deftly squeezed through a hole at the bottom of the fence.  My husband had not totally finished repairing it after a bear had bashed its way in earlier this summer.

Over a period of several days, we enjoyed watching the antics of the fawn while its mom waited outside, lying up against the fence.

It sampled the hostas and oh so many tasty plants.  For a little deer, this must have been like Christmas morning is to human children.

On Sunday afternoon with autumn in full color, heavy traffic began to appear on our road.  We must have been part of a back roads autumn tour. Groups of motorcycles went by and the car and other vehicle traffic, in both directions, was incessant. Neither my husband nor I could remember seeing so many people in our area.  I'm sure that it would have been very difficult for any animal to safely cross the road.

Then, about midafternoon our fawn appeared alone.  It slipped into the fence just as it had for so many days and began sampling the hostas. The young deer looked around as if expecting its mom to appear. Finally, it lay down against the inside of the fence next to the spot where it's mother had been lying on the outside of the fence, the afternoon before.  It stayed for a couple of hours alternately looking at times as if it expected its mother and at others, dozing.  Meanwhile my husband also dozed for a while on the swing just about 40 feet away.  Finally, the fawn left and headed into the woods.

We were gone on Sunday, but we have seen the fawn twice today.  Both times it was inside our fence, and both times it seemed agitated and afraid, staying only briefly. Unfortunately, this story of another doe does not seem to have a happy ending either.

THE COLORS OF SUMMER

Summer warms the body, feeds the soul and delights the senses with a kaleidoscope of colors. With fall evident all around, I love to look back through the photos that I have taken, at the vivid colors of summer

when every creature and plant wears its finest.

The daylily, nature's colorful trumpet, calls forth the summer

and it's lovely breezes.

A blue dasher dragonfly lands on a pink lotus bloom at the 

North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC.  What brilliance of color, 

what a delight on a hot summer day.

Golden fritillary butterflies drink nectar from rose colored Sweet William flowers 

just as they have for centuries in early summer gardens.

The four-eyed milkweed beetle gives a clash of color as it

treads across the bloom.

Black-Eyed Susans look like cheery droplets of sun with night colored centers.

A tiny spring peeper sits quietly on the unopened blooms of a sedum.
Earlier in the summer, his cheerful call went on for hours.
What a wonderful nighttime song!

So many patterns, such tranquil colors, as blue and yellow converge to paint a glorious picture.

    Like a summer dandelion, the goldfinch in all his glory brightens

the green dominated scene of a midsummer wetland.

A speckled robin fledgling, not yet dressed in his brown tuxedo, sits precariously on a magnolia branch.

A burst of cheer, a droplet of color, hidden deep in the shadowy woods.

Gold, the color of spring daffodils, summer sunflowers, and autumn goldenrods, is truly one of nature's brightest and most spectacular shows. 

Gentle browns, the newness of life make summer seem so exciting

and full of hope.

The blues of the sky, of birds and water give us tranquil pauses in a busy day.

Variegated greens and vibrant blues make a shady spot seem extra refreshing.

The green leaves of pond lilies make a cozy little nook for a little green frog.

With mountains softly silhouetted in shades of blues and purples,

the grasses sway with each summer breeze. 

Summer, there is no other time that creates such joy, provides amazing bounty, and so delights the senses.

Springtime in the Beautiful Knobs of Kentucky

During the week of April 17 to 23, we travelled to the Knobs Region of Kentucky. The hills are called The Knobs because they are cone-shaped with steep sides and altitudes generally less than 1000 feet above sea level.  The Appalachian Mountains lie to the east.

Woodland Flowers

We took a short hike in the John B. Stephenson Memorial Forest Nature Preserve to Anglin Falls, an area located near Berea, KY. The woodland floor was alive with a special floral covering of spring flowers. These are some of the things that we saw while hiking to the falls.

The Trail to Anglin Falls

violets

Long-spurred Violet

This little violet is called a long-spurred violet because of the long spur on the bottom petal. It can also be distinguished by the purple spots on the petals.  

Canada Violet

Violets are the flower that seem to proclaim that spring has truly arrived. This is the Canada violet.  It has a yellow tint to the base of the petals, and if you were to turn it over, the back of the top two petals is purple. 

Woodland Phlox and a Tiger Swallowtail

This tiger swallowtail is enjoying a sip of nectar from these native woodland phlox.  They are sometimes called wild sweet williams.

Dwarf Crested Iris

The dwarf crested iris is a showy, native plant that grows close to the ground.  It is visited by hummingbirds, and like native columbine, provides an early source of nectar for them.  

Jacob's Ladder

Jacob's ladder is a native plant that gets the "ladder" portion of it's common name from the opposite leaves that look like a ladder.  My first memories of it are those that I saw in my own grandmother's garden.  The plant's fragrance is reported to be attractive to cats,  and they will roll in it just as they do in catnip.

trilliums

White Nodding Trillium

No spring woodland trip would be complete without trilliums to admire, and these woods provided plenty. A common name for them is Wake Robin so called because they appeared at about the same time the robin returned.  They can be eaten and are used medicinally for diarrhea.  Native Americans used them as an aid for childbirth.

Sessile Trillium

The sessile trillium is also known as the toadshade trillium, the toad trillium and sweet Betsy.

Red Trillium

The red trillium is sometimes known as the stinking trillium.  Some people describe its smell as similar to that of a wet dog.

Redbud trees and dogwoods along the way.

This is a bird's nest that we spotted just off the trail. It is probably a Baltimore Oriole's nest although there are several other birds that will build a hanging nest.

As we neared the falls, the trail became narrower with some rocky area to traverse.

We saw this pickerel frog near the falls.  Click on the link  below to hear his call which has been compared to a snore.  On the left side of the page, click on the family tab and then on Ranidae.  Then click on Pickerel.

http://bioweb.wku.edu/froglogger

Beautiful wisps of orange and yellow, these native columbines were blooming

 among the rocks.

This is Anglin Falls in April, a hike worth taking. 

      Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put

forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire.  ~ Virgil