Thirsty

The thirsty buck came back today. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, which is weird. They're supposed to be napping then. I think this fella has found a salt lick and licks too much and gets freakishly thirsty. Then he comes to my place and drinks all the water in my birdbathtub. He drank for 30 solid minutes, I kid you not.

I was resting in my loft with a cold when I heard steps on the front porch and climbed down the ladder to see who it was. It was just that deer. He went to the birdbathtub and started drinking. I got the camera and sat down on the floor and watched him. I was uncomfortable, cold, and bored before his thirst was quenched. (I got distracted by an Eastern Blue Bird and an Eastern Phoebe.) Then I had to keep watching him for another 20 minutes while he browsed in my woods. Then he walked off to the well and drank all the rainwater that had collected on the top of the plastic bin that contains my electrolytic derusting apparatus.

Since it was the middle of the day and far less overcast than the last time he was here I got better pictures and even video with a zoom. I made a video as long as an entire Talking Heads song since my knowledge of hunters tells me that a lot of people have a great deal of patience for watching things with antlers. I didn't have a tripod where I could get it without scaring the deer though so these are all handheld. Pardon the shakes.

I think I miscounted the points on his antlers last time. I thought it was 8, then 9, but now I think it's 10. Are you supposed to count those nubby bits?

Over by the well. See the gash on his side? I took some close ups of it but they are hard for me to look at.
Here we can see he is capable of licking it, but doesn't seem to be obsessed with it like a pet dog would be.
It is so neatly missing that chunk of fur it makes me wonder if it is made to come off easily, like those mice
I read about with the skin that just comes off like plastic wrap off a pudding.

This is just a cute picture of a pine warbler that reminds me of
me not looking at the wound photos.