This poor deer was grazing underneath the coast Douglas-fir tree, so I am including it in this year's Tree Year Project. Despite the total lack of photographic merit in the 2nd and 3rd photos above, I wanted to show this buck's torn ears. Indeed, his right ear is nearly torn in half with the outer edge flopping about, and the left has a decent sized notch in it. I'm assuming this is fairly common, as Jim Coda featured a torn-eared buck in a recent post. Those annual antlers must be a pain! I'm wondering if this is the same buck I saw back on October 28, 2010, especially considering I haven't seen another buck around home in 5 years.
6 comments:
It is fun to see the same animals when out in an area.I am glad you found the eagles. Many of my friends have been glued to this watching them hatch and grow.I camp around there a lot, this is also trout country.it is really a charmer to see. We have eagles all winter here on theriver. My best count on the 2 mile stretch to my home was 101.
The torn ear is strange. Wonder how it happened?
Oh, Joe! I figured you would know. Do you think sparring with another male from last fall cause torn ears?
As you know, my house is right in the middle of major deer territory, and from what I can tell, ripped ears are common - a few of the does that come around have them. One of them is named 'Rag Ear'. I don't know how it happens, wether it's from fighting, or getting caught in something. One doe that comes around just gave birth to twins and they are soooo cute! There are a few other females that are on the verge of giving birth any day now. I love this time of year!!!
I don't think it's from sparring. Generally the antlers are fairly blunt unless they're broken then they can be sharp. Interesting that Jennifer has a lot also. Wonder if it's a blacktail thing. While I've seen a few not many of the whitetails in my area have torn ears.
Joe, from previous comments, black-tails have considerably larger ears than white-tails. Plus, I know the antlers are different shapes between the species. When I get some time I'll try to look into this.
Steve, didn't mean to ignore you. Actually, it was Jennifer who alerted me to that 24/7 eagle nest cam. I'm surprised at how popular it is. The infrared lighting to record at night is unusual.
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