Boys in the Back

This past week the boys, that is the buck deer, have reestablished themselves in our back yard. In the middle of summer the woods are thick with leaves, vines, downed trees still alive and ground cover. The squirrels shake the trees on their majestic jumps from branch to branch while the cardinals and humming birds are active both in song and in flight.

As summer has passed, the buck have increased their rack size since the earlier spring post. I look for them every day but it seems like it's the evening when they want to settle down and rest in the bed of leaves. Recently, I have been on an investigation about the turtle population of New Jersey and I never considered the lives of a buck deer until they started to come around regularly. In Pennsylvania stories circulate about the wisdom and elusiveness of bucks during hunting season so I am always awed to see them. Last weekend I walked closer to take photos while they rested. They continued with their own business as I walked toward them, keenly watching and allowing me to get within 100 feet. But when I sat on the grass that was too much and off they went into the thick woods where we could hear them but not see them.

This week they've visited the leaf zone at least twice. Three males, all antlered walked down the grass and into the woods. On nature type TV Darwin's natural selection model usually portrays males as territorial and controlling in order to show their 'mate with me' attributes to females. Our back yard boys are about the same size with one slightly larger than the other two. Witnessing them come into our yard was one amazing thing- but as you'll see in this 37 second video two bucks approached each other and started to lick each others neck. The big antlers somehow staying out of the way they continued for at least 3 minutes. What an amazing thing to witness. So that's what really happens in the back woods.