Smart Deer

I came across this little nubbin buck last February in the pond between the office and the house. When I drove up the hill by the pond, there was the deer standing in the middle of the pond. As I stopped, grabbed the camera and started taking pictures, he ran off. That was interesting, but I couldn't figure out why he was standing in the pond.

As I got close to the office, I looked back through a hole in the brush and saw a deer standing in an opening at about 75 yards. It looked all bristled up. Grabbed the camera again and started shooting pictures. Some something else moving in that opening, but couldn't figure it out for a minute. It was a coyote that was facing off the deer.

After a few minutes they left that opening. They were heading back toward the pond, so I got out of the truck and took my camera and followed. As I was going down the trail toward the dam side of the pond, two coyotes streaked across the trail about 40 yards away. They had been on the dam, so I figured I see the deer back in the water. Sure enough, I climed the back side of the dam, and when I peeked over the top, the deer was staring at me. The best photo I got were taken at this time. They're not great, but there is the deer, standing in the water to get away from the coyotes. Though the deer could stand on that hign spot in the middle, the coyotes were forced to swim, so the deer had a great advantage.

See ya, Bill