In our neck of the woods... Fawns and Doves

Two things I love about this time of the year in Missouri. First, the white-tailed deer fawns still have their spots (barely), but they are getting big enough that we occasionally see them out and about on their own. Remember, when fawns are small, they are much safer when they are alone, lying still in the vegetation of the forest floor, than when they are with their mother. The more hours per day the mother leaves them alone, the more likely the little fawns will survive. It's much more dangerous to be with the mother. Why? Because the mother is more visible, and more likely to draw the attention of predators. Which draws attention to the fawn. Most fawns taken by predators are those that are up and moving around, following their mother.

But now that fawns are large enough to outrun a coyote, it is safe for them to be with their mother (or even moving around on their own), and we see them more often. This fawn came into our driveway recently.

The second thing I love this time of the year is the soothing calls of mourning doves. For some reason, these haunting calls make me think of summers when I was a kid, staying in bed late on Saturday mornings and listening to the doves through the screens of the bedroom's open windows. It was a simpler time, so I try to rekindle those feelings whenever I hear them now. It seems we always have a few pairs of these birds near our house. Mourning doves are normally monogamous, mating for life (or until something happens to one of them).

Photo Credits:
White-tailed deer fawn and mourning dove - Stan C. Smith