The first mammals I photographed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma were deer. Later in the morning, I found these White-tailed Deer does and fawn in a lotus-edged slough.
Yes, I happy-danced. Repeatedly. Especially because the fawn was so young. The spotted fawn was probably only a few days old!
White-tailed Deer does and fawn in lotus beauties in the leaves – Canon R7, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 640, Canon RF 100-500 mm at 500m, natural light
It was very challenging to get eye contact from all three of the White-tailed Deer but in this photo I achieved my goal.
Both does had ticks all over their ears, but the tiny fawn appeared to be clean and tick-free.
I do not see White-tailed Deer in northern Utah at all so I was thrilled to have these beauties in the viewfinder of the camera my dear friend and exceptional wildlife photographer Steve Creek has let me use while I am here visiting with him. I love the animal-eye tracking feature of his camera. It helped me all morning long and not just with these does and the fawn.
If I had not taken another photo after I took my images of these White-tailed Deer does and fawn I still would have been over the moon. I was that deliciously happy with our experience with these deer. How amazing it was to find them in such a unique setting among the lotus.
By the way, the does were nibbling on those big, platter-size lotus leaves. The fawn? It was running around testing its slender legs which made me giggle out loud repeatedly. The does and fawn were completely at ease with me and Steve photographing them from the opposite side of the slough.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my White-tailed Deer photo plus facts and information about this species.
Wonderful pic. I can’t get over the richness of the colors; especially the White-tails coats. Congrats on the eye-contact you captured. That’s amazing. It took me a couple seconds to find the fawn. Handsome little guy ain’t he? Thanks Mia.
What a delightful scene! I can just imagine the fawn doing that little wobbly prance that they do! I also wish that I could remove all those ticks! Where are the Australian Ravens when you need them? (There are some videos on YouTube in which ravens are removing and eating ticks from Wallabies.)
Hooray for happy dances. I hope there are a lot more of them in coming days/weeks…
wonderful, we have a doe and fawn hanging around. The little one is so cute. I finally got a not too good image of them yesterday. It was taken from the house and through the screen.
What a beautiful gift of nature you have captured so clearly. I Always enjoy your posts and photos! Thank you for always brightening the morning.
Very timely! one of the White-tail does that frequent the back acres of our home gave birth yesterday.