Learning About Deer (1981)

it's spring late May or early June the female deer looks for a quiet place in the meadow to Bear her Young hidden by The Tall Grass she lies on her side to give birth when 2/3 of the Fawn is exposed the dough stands up so that the Fawn can slide out by its own weight normally the dough gives birth to two fawns she immediately cleans them and feeds them [Music] within a few hours as soon as The Fawns are strong enough the dough leads them further into the meadow she leaves them in separate locations sometimes placing them more than 40 m apart this precaution ensures that one Fawn could be saved if the other were found by a predator the dough feeds her young two or three times daily she gently massages The Fawns with her tongue to stimulate their ball and bladder movements by the second day she encourages her fawns to feed standing up after feeding time The Fawns lie Motionless in the grass for hours while the dough patrols the meadow always on the alert for Predators like the red fox the fawn's only protection is their camouflage color and the absence of almost any scent by remaining motionless they avoid the fox's attention keeping still has proved to be successful the watchful mother diverts the fox and frightens it away humans present a much greater danger to the newborn fongs [Applause] discovering the Fawn in time the farmer wraps it in Hay so that it will not take on a human scent and places it out of danger the fawn's call of distress signals its location to the D she reassures her newborn by feeding it immediately a common behavioral response among many mammals no more than 5 or 6 days old the young fawns begin instinctively to imitate their mother they follow her around the meadow As She searches for food imitating her movements they chew and swallow their first Clover flowers after about 10 days The Fawns frequently dare to search for food on their own if the young FS are hungry or if they feel neglected they call out to their mother she in turn calls to them when she wants to feed them for when they are 2 or 3 weeks old The Fawns begin to test their Speed and Agility their wild and energetic leaps do not disturb the Tranquility of the mother a strange new disturbance in a meadow provokes the dough to call out a warning to her FS the noise of a familiar vehicle like a tractor seems to pose no threat from May to August the deer stay in the meadow where there is sufficient protection and food by the end of July the dots on the fawn's coats have almost disappeared by the end of summer the do is now ready to mate again her fawns remain a short distance away from The Mating place [Music] during The Mating Season bucks are considerably more aggressive and compete for mates the stronger chases his rival out of the territory the Buck's sense of smell is welld developed and he easily finds the track of the dough in heat as he comes close to her the dough runs away leading the buck in a chase that can go on for hours and beginning a mating ritual that may last several days the Buck's persistence however eventually leads to mating after the dough has mated with the buck she returns to her young fawns even though she now has less and less milk to give them the dough continues to feed her fawns for several weeks with the approach of cold weather a yearling returns to her mother the doe and her Young go to spend the winter in the protective confines of the forest for