Tag: deer

“Fawndly” Speaking

The Unexpected Visitor

This time of year, we’re often confronted with baby deer in our neighborhood, and unlike some homosapsens, I find them irresistible, versus irritating.

This particular one was born about a week prior to my photo, then decided to lay on our driveway, under my husband’s pickup truck. Mama was no where near but a very observant neighbor kindly pointed her out before we drove off without knowing.

We left her undisturbed and a few days later, she appeared under a bush in our front yard where I could get a shot without scarring her. Mama wasn’t far off this time so without hesitation, I grabbed my camera and longest lens and fired away.

That little face stared back at me many times over the next year until I decided to give her the painterly touches you see above. And as always, I hope you enjoy the end result and that you’ll continue to tune in!

She Wore Blue but He Wore Brown…

Spotted on a neighbor’s property a few years ago, this handsome young buck was dressed to the nines in what else but…velvet!

And as he munched away on vegetation, in my head, I was hearing ‘she wore blue velvet…’, which of course was a tribute to Bobby Vinton (and Bernie Wayne, the author), as well as to my age.

But aside from that, I was able to snag a few photos that at the time, I thoroughly enjoyed, but since then, they’ve taken up space on my hard drive – at least until now.

And since I’m finally posting it here, I found his “velvet” interesting enough to at least Google ‘antler velvet’ and AI was kind enough to offer the following:

“As the antlers develop they’re covered by a nourishing coat of blood vessels, skin and short hair known as velvet—this supplies nutrients and minerals to the growing bone. When antlers reach their full size in late August or September, the velvet is no longer needed.”

Surprisingly, I also learned that although controversial, some athletes have used the velvet to increase their performance, and that others use it for medicinal and/or cosmetic purposes: ‘Laboratory and animals studies have shown that pilose, a protein found in antler velvet, has an anti-inflammatory effect. Antler velvet is also rich in chondroitin sulphate, collagen and glucosamine sulphate. The properties and make-up of the compound could make it a useful treatment in a variety of types of arthritis.’

But, don’t take my word for it; if it doesn’t work, I suspect you’d be singing Blue Velvet as well…