Whoa deer!

Deer in my yard is not an uncommon occurrence. I've written about the deer that come through daily, nibbling bamboo and other plants. I've talked about the less-than-healthy deer too. So seeing deer in the yard is not a big deal anymore. Seeing an adult male deer though, that's something quite uncommon and exciting.

About a month ago I was able to capture this young guy on video. Not the largest deer you'll ever see, but not bad for a suburban yard I'd say.

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I was on the deck zoomed way in, but I think he knew I was watching him...

He looked nervous, unlike the deer that sometimes hang out in the yard all day long, lounging and snacking. Maybe it was the chainsaw grinding away in the background that had him uneasy.

One thing I only recently learned about their antlers is that they grow a new set each year, and they grow back larger each time. So this guy is probably just 2-3 years old -- can anybody who knows deer verify that?

I didn't realize that the facial markings were so prominent, and so different from the females -- those white rings around the eyes and nose were surprising!

This is what we typically see in the yard:

So being able to watch this guy for a few minutes was a nice treat.

He never stopped anywhere in my yard, and I never saw him nibble on anything. He was either too focused on getting to his destination or too nervous.


Here's the video. It's unedited, straight out of the camera. Enjoy.

If you want to see a couple of other videos I've uploaded, check out my YouTube channel. My plan is to upload more videos soon -- there are a lot on the camera right now, and it's just a question of how much editing I want to do.