Not So Cute

Yesterday I published a gushingly-cute photo of a spotted fawn gamboling within view of a patient trail camera.  In the interest of laying it on thick the cuteness was so treacly thick that it would even have made Walt Disney blush.

This is not cute.

This fawn was dining on my late season garden vegetables - so in my biggest, loudest, very big scary voice I ordered him out.  Vamoose!

This little one's mama has taught him a great disservice - namely garden raids are accompanied by a stiff penalty.

Capital crime around these parts...

Nocturnal Visitor

The cedars in the yard are showing sign of having been browsed.  This, following a thorough spraying with deer repellant. 

And fresh tracks in the fresh snow on the driveway....

Who Left These?

The vehicle tracks your clearly see in the trail were not made by the Polaris four-wheeler.  The ATV has a much lighter footprint and is of a narrower wheelbase.  These look like truck or automobile tracks.  And they aren't mine.

Was somebody shining or looking to poach a deer when I wasn't looking?

Maybe it's time to stage a trail camera to capture a vehicle or license plate.  Or lay a trap...

Fawn

Fawn in the front yard.

Middle of the day.

Mama is probably in the corn field next door or the heavy cover to the west.

This is an older fawn as it has no spots.  An adult deer would not likely make this mistake.  Nevertheless it's unusual as the deer tend to be skittish.  Of course the dogs were in the house...

Interloper

Not my dog.

Someone's been running hounds - for fox or coyotes maybe?

This is definitely a trailing hound...

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Things might get a bit tense with the canines if someone's running dogs across the property and the girls are doing their thing.

Interloper

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Not one of my dogs.

This belongs to someone else.  Oddly, it doesn't look like any of the coon hounds that are caught on camera from time to time.  This pooch looks like a pit bull.

Trespasser

Another trespasser has left evidence of a visit. 

A deadly killer on the loose in the countryside.

A cat.

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Turkey on the Porch

Deer in the garden and now this.  Check this out...

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Some gobbler had the nerve to stroll across my porch and leave his tracks in the fresh snow. The critters around here are getting rather bold.



Strange Dog

This is not my dog.  Girlfriend and I went out yesterday morning to fetch the memory cards from the trail cameras.  There were plenty of critters captured digitally over the last three weeks including this dog that was cruising through about an hour or so before we came through.  It's a male for sure.  Looks like a hunting breed - some sort of short hair.  No sign of a person.