My folks' place is in West Virginia (Grant County) which got hit with the blizzard to the tune of between 25 and 30". There is a pretty, young 8pt that survived all the seasons that comes in daily. He and a bunch of does made their way to the feeder, but the funny thing is they stay in the path my dad shoveled when/if possible. I thought they were some funny pics of the deer using the path through the yard.
(http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af295/WJCook/PICT0025.jpg) (http://s1017.photobucket.com/user/WJCook/media/PICT0025.jpg.html)
(http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af295/WJCook/PICT0019.jpg) (http://s1017.photobucket.com/user/WJCook/media/PICT0019.jpg.html)
Nice Pictures!! Looks cold.
Yup, they'll follow snowmobile trails, footprints and my snow shoe tracks. They'll often take the easier route this time of year up here. We had real bad snow a few years ago and in some rural areas we saw plenty of deer walking along plowed roads.
Actually, I never thought much of it. But if you've never seen it first hand, it would be a little surprising.
:campfire:
They are no different than you or me......take the best path to use the least energy.....lol!
Ron put it perfect. Takes a lot energy to push through that snow.
Really cool pics. Last year I cleared trails through my yard and behind my fence with the snowblower for the deer to get around and my neighbor ran his snowmobile through the woods. This year there wearing sunglasses and sipping umbrella drinks. Its just crazy to not have snow up here this time of year.
The path of least resistance!
Bisch
Would you plow through the deep stuff if you had a nice plowed lane to use? They ain't stupid. Conserving energy at this time of year is paramount. Only got a foot here so they're not having any problem getting around.
Cool pics! Post them in the Trailcam Pic thread
They have no trouble in this snow - it's so cold it's super powdery so they made their own "trails" the first day and now stay within their open trails unless spooked.
Great pics J
Deno
Years ago there was a photo floating around the internet of two does standing in snow up over there backs. Heads, necks and backtrail was all you could see if I remember right...