"MORE SIBLING, LESS TWIN"

Mule Deer (Immature) - 6 Photos

The twin fawns in the photos below have been featured in two previous blogs, "IF YOU ARE SEEING DOUBLE WITH SPOTS" (Aug 29, 2024) & "SPOTS, SPOTS & MORE SPOTS" (Aug 1, 2024). 

One may wonder how a person could identify this particular two & their mother from other deer families. This family is consistently in the same area at the same time and until recently with the re-appearance of the bucks, they are generally on their own. I was somewhat concerned when I first saw the mother doe in early Summer, that although energetic & always available to her fawns for a milk feed, she was quite thin. She appears to be quite a mature doe, which probably explains the twin birth and which is most likely the reason for her condition. First there would have been the duration of the pregnancy & carrying twins, followed by the feeding of two youngsters. Even with the lush vegetation of Summer, all that nutrition would have been passed onto her fawns.

But now it is November and the fawns are eating adult food or at least should be and their mother is a healthy weight. Unfortunately, it happened within seconds so the following couldn't be caught on camera. The female fawn spotted her mother across the creek. She jumped over, ran up to her mother's side and immediately tried to feed at the milk bar. Her brother, although a fair distance away, like all siblings, wasn't going to miss out on such an opportunity. If his sister was going to partake, so was he and bounded across the meadow to reach his mother's other side. But Mum wasn't going to have any of that so she half jumped, half crawled over her youngsters and set them straight. Naughty children!

Reviewing the photos, one can now see not only the size difference in male & female fawns, but also "himself" is now showing the beginning of the crown where his antler set will eventually rest and tiny little antler buds appearing (Photo #3 through to Photo #5). His sister definitely has a softer and more refined face of a doe (Photo #1 & Photo #2).

And bad news, children, your mother has already been courted by one of the largest mule deer bucks and most likely next year, there will be at least one, if not more fawns, occupying your mother's attention.

I have included in the last photo (Photo #6) for comparisons, the shot taken in early August 2024 of the two youngsters, already showing a size difference and of course, all decked out in their spots.

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6