Gas Pains

Tom grew up in Milwaukee, bartended in Wauwatosa in the '70s and moved here in 1984.

Commentary, observations and musings about the outdoors, life in general and maybe Tosa politics and personalities will be the order of the day. He savors a lively debate as much as terrific cooking.

Deer Camp - Day Six

Deer Camp, Critters

Two-thirds of the way through the traditional gun season.

It's also a day of thanksgiving and many of us have much to be thankful for.

Family, freedom, friends, co-workers - the list goes on.

It's just Jill, me and Girlfriend this holiday.  Ordinarily Jill's sister and husband would be staying with us but the needs of another declining parent require a stay closer to home.

Here is an insight into a wee bit of deer biology and how they communicate amongst themselves.

I stumbled-upon this during my walk yesterday afternoon.

In the picture above you can see a heavily traveled trail.  It crosses the creek and is full of fresh tracks.  In the foreground you will see a large dark patch.  That is what is known as a scrape.  Above the scrape (upper right-hand quadrant in the photo) is a 'licking branch'.  It shows evidence of being chewed-upon.

Male deer mark their territory during the whitetail breeding season by means of glandular scents.

When they rub the bark off of a tree trunk they are leaving a scent from glands located on their  forehead.

Then there are tarsal glands located on the inside of a deer's hind legs just above the tarsal joint.  Peeing on those glands deposits scent on the scrape.

Finally, there are preorbital glands situated near the inside corner of the eyes that are used to deposit scent on the branch above the scrape.

These are all mechanisms that bucks use to communicate their hierarchy among other deer.

Since the tracks are plenty fresh -  today we moved the trail camera nearby to see who might be cruising the neighborhood.

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