This morning I saw a doe standing near the shore in about 12" - 16" of water. She appeared to be eating lily pads, but she spooked before I could get close enough to confirm. I’ve never before seen deer stand in water and eat lilies. Have I been hopelessly sheltered these past several decades or is it unusual behavior?
I’ve picked up several adult black rat snakes and they were all calm. The juvenile red rat snake I tried to pick up decided I was not to be trusted and struck several times so I wished him well.
Not unusual. Deer eat a variety of plants, and I would guess that aquatic plants like lilies, may, at times, be a preferred choice. Deer are also quite capably of swimming.
From McGregor Bay and Baie Fine last week.
Can anyone id this carnivore skull? Lens cap is 2" diam.
While we are at it, how about this poop?
3 Likes
Majestic. Oh look, somebody threw away granola . . .
I’ve seen them swimming to and from an island in the same lake. I guess I’m not surprised that they eat lilies - after all, they ate my Serrano peppers a week ago - I’m just surprised I’d never seen it before now.
The teeth look more like a sheep, goat or deer. The Scat is probably raccoon, but could be mink. These are the best guesses I have.
1 Like
My guess was also herbivore. Those look like chewing teeth , not catching and tearing teeth like carnivores.
1 Like
I think they are crayfish shell. My best guess is otter but they are an inch across - are otter’s that big?
Otter is certainly a possibility.
Looks like partial skull of white tail deer teeth.
1 Like
Is that possibly coyote scat.
Deer it is then. Must have swum the half mile to the island or walked over in winter.
This juvenile was the same, but I still got him off the trail, so nobody would scream, “copperhead!” and kill him.
Yes, deer like moose eat aquatic vegetation, and are great swimmers. These photos taken on our first sailing trip from the club back in 2020 show two deer that left Goat Island where we were picnicking. They were about halfway across the half mile to land when people on a pontoon boat motored over between them and the far shore for a better look. This turned them around and they swam back to the Island.
2 Likes
We saw this today.
It’s a pelvis and some legs with fur.
We guessed fox or Wolf but maybe it’s a dog?
1 Like
cheapest iphone made ($$pendy), filthy/broken/wet waterproof case cover ($50),
being there alive for a once in a decade blue heron take off shot $$priceless eh?
Peace J
2 Likes
Hard to tell, but I think its probably dead.
1 Like
Cervid skull – perhaps elk? Depends on where you were. We used to find elk skulls in the woods around my ex’s place in the woods in north central PA, where there is a well-established herd, and the dentition and mandible indentations looked like that.
The scat appears to have small rodent and bird bones in it – maybe fox scat or owl pellet?