An End, a Beginning; More Like a Pause

This was my last weekend here this year. We celebrated my sister’s birthday on Sunday and I was really aware of memories of the family get-togethers we've had here over the past few years. I guess the time for sentiment has finally arrived now that my departure date is so near (less than a week!).

However, since I decided to make the lake house a short-term vacation rental instead of a long-term rental, I will be able to spend as much time as I want here when I come back for a visit in about nine months. The house got booked for almost the entire summer season within a few days of listing it, so it’s all working out perfectly so far (fingers crossed).

Here’s a day at the lake with the family.

Picking blueberries by the dock.

Shucking corn for grilling.

Feeding the ducks on the beach.

Night falls.

Playing with fire!

The day ends with a spectacular orange moon.

Still Going

Hmmmph, a week ago the antlers looked like they were separating, with two knobs at the top. This morning there's a longer stem with a single knob at the top. I don't know if this is a different young buck or if this is part of the growing process. I guess the two knobs could have fused to form the larger broader shape at the top. In any case, they do keep on growing!

RED!

Hello there!

This is what I call a brilliant red--isn't it beyoootiful?

Growing Nicely

As promised, here’s a progress report on the growing antlers of this handsome boy. They are beginning to split and form the start of the more familiar antler shape.

I’m not sure if this is his sister or a companion but he had no problem sharing his corn when she came by. Sometimes they are not so friendly with their food.

And finally, after 8 years, I’ve found a flowering plant that the deer won’t eat. I can’t tell you happy that makes me—aren’t the lavender buds pretty?

Mourning Doves

This moving to Ecuador project is very time consuming and I've been neglecting the blog because of it. I'm happy to report that things are progressing in due course but time is going too fast--only a couple more weeks left!

I finally took a break and saw this Mourning Dove peering through the glass door. I always get a kick out of the sight of curious animals taking a peek to see what's behind the glass. Mourning Doves forage for seeds on the ground, which is a good thing since they're too large to perch on the bird feeder. They clean up what falls on the deck so it's a win-win situation for both of us.

I haven't had time to wash the glass so the pictures are a not too sharp. One more thing to add to the to-do list!

Growth

I'm back to posting on this blog! I had a few pictures left over from my stay in Cuenca so I've still been posting on the Ecuador blog but I'm done with those and ready to pay proper attention to my beloved lake and my fellow dwellers.

There's an absence of fawns around the lake this year. Normally, there would be a few babies around at this point but I haven't seen any yet. Very curious. However, I have seen a couple of young ones. Here's a young buck, you can see the antlers just beginning to grow from the two nubs on the deer's head known as pedicules. They protrude out of the skull in the first year of life and support the antlers, which don't begin growing until the buck is in his second year.

That first year most deer species grow short spike-like antlers. It isn't until the third year that a deer will begin to have antlers that branch out, with each year adding more branches. Antlers are actually living bone that male deer are able to regenerate annually. The antlers are shed in January or February after the mating season and then begin to grow again in the spring, sometimes at the rate of almost two inches a day. Only members of the deer family grow antlers, which vary in size from species to species and are the fastest growing type of tissue in the entire world of animals.

Growing antlers are covered with a substance called velvet, a brownish hued fur that encases a network of blood vessels and endings of nerves. The velvet provides the nutrients for the antlers as they develop. During this time antlers are easily damaged so a deer will be very careful not to do anything that might hurt them. Once they have achieved maximum growth the deer will rub the velvet off its antlers, which harden in the late summer.

I'll show the antlers' progress throughout the next few weeks and I very much hope to see some fawns soon. I'm a little concerned by their absence.