Look, No Birds!

[Chris Calohan]

"Little Missy Shows Her Tail"

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Does her mother know that she behaves like that in public?   

[Colorado David]

That doe is just about to bolt.  Look at where her attention is focused.  She has caught the scent or sound of something she either can't identify or can and it's frightening. Whitetail deer are always wandering around looking for something to run away from. They have an incredible ability to smell.  Their ability to smell is so refined, they can factor the distance to a threat by the intensity of the odor. They have super hearing and sight also. The appearance of her legs is as if her spring is wound tight and ready to release. The flagging tail is an automatic reaction to the fight or flight response.  When they're afraid, the tail goes up and they can't help it. The whitetail deer got their name from just this reaction. It is meant to be a sign to any other deer nearby that there is danger close by.  That is a yearling doe. Deer mature reproductively very early.  By the time they lose their spots in the fall of their birth-year they can be bread.  They will typically drop twins their first year.  After that, they may have triplets.

[Chris Calohan]

Surprisingly, this one just ambled away, seemingly quite unconcerned though, as you mentioned, also quite aware of my presence.

This one a bit older and earlier in the week said eff you and bolted like shot from a canon.

[churly]

That doe is just about to bolt.  Look at where her attention is focused.  She has caught the scent or sound of something she either can't identify or can and it's frightening. Whitetail deer are always wandering around looking for something to run away from. They have an incredible ability to smell.  Their ability to smell is so refined, they can factor the distance to a threat by the intensity of the odor. They have super hearing and sight also. The appearance of her legs is as if her spring is wound tight and ready to release. The flagging tail is an automatic reaction to the fight or flight response.  When they're afraid, the tail goes up and they can't help it. The whitetail deer got their name from just this reaction. It is meant to be a sign to any other deer nearby that there is danger close by.  That is a yearling doe. Deer mature reproductively very early.  By the time they lose their spots in the fall of their birth-year they can be bread.  They will typically drop twins their first year.  After that, they may have triplets.

David, you missed one thing - at this point a deer will almost inevitably discharge a pile of road berries in preparation for flight. 

[Colorado David]

Nice shots, both, by the way.  In looking at the two does, the first appears to be a yearling while the second is older in my estimation.  That could account for the difference in behavior.  I've seen a lot of yearling deer that seem to know they should be afraid of human scent, but just don't quite get it yet.  After another year, they get it.  Of course all of their normal behavior is different if they live in a protected area and are habituated to the presence of humans.  Just look at the elk wandering the streets of Estes Park for example.