• Thursday-What'sUP September 14 - 09:57 am

Melanie Hakala Rossi captured some nice shots of a doe and her fawn, alongside a Keweenaw roadway, where it seems that Mom may have been trying to teach her youngster the dangers of the road and how to make a safe crossing.

Melanie's third photo, shows a skinny looking deer, too, making me wonder if she may have had twin fawns to feed, which would make it hard for her to keep any weight on herself. I'm not sure how long fawns nurse from their mother or how long they stick around with mom to learn the ropes of survival in the Keweenaw. Perhaps someone can chime in with more information about the habits of deer and their babies? Thanks in advance...

The last deer looks like it may be infested with ticks, which could explain why it is so thin.

Deer and motorcycles do not mix. Seems to be a frequent occurrence in fall...

They look like the doe and 2 fawns living out near my pond this year. I often see them down at the woods grazing in the early morning hours. My cat, Tippy, sits on his window perch and 'hums' as he watches them. ;>

Deer are starting to move about with farmers starting the harvesting up. The third deer could possibly have wasting disease?

Oh deer; these are nice photos!! Great job Melanie...

If you haven't done so, go check out Melanie's photo page in the Pasty Gallery. She has some wonderful flower and nature photos of the Keweenaw and UP in general.

Nice pics!

Anyone in the Keweenaw know how the colors are? Probably
be going up that way this weekend. I know down here
(houghton area) they're starting to change.

Oh, deer (lol).

I really doubt if it's "chronic wasting disease". The ticks are not helping the situation. They can lose a lot of blood. The poor doe had to go through a very rough winter. There isn't much to eat with all of the snow cover and they have the wolves and coyotes to contend with, while they are pregnant. There is also a "new" small black fly that bites them and causes them to bleed internally. Michigan just lost 1700, I believe, to this disease.
Not sure but I believe weaning begins at six months old.

Nice pictures. Feel so sorry for the momma!! There are ticks all over her. So sad. I guess that unless it gets tested, we won't know what is wrong with the poor thing.

According to whitetaildeer.com, normally the babies are weaned by 3 to 4 months. I love watching them when we go to my mom's place. They aren't even scared of us.