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OK Guys,
I was out with my dog in the local nature preserve tonight after work (Scotts Run, in McLean, VA overlooking the Potomac).
Since it was getting late, we decided to cut back along a pretty primitive deer/hiking trail. About halfway back to the car - with my dog a good 15 yards in front of us, we see 4 deer (2 does and 2 very small deer - either tiny does or fawns with fully developed coats and no spots) run up about 75 yards in front of us. The dog is about to take off and I whistle him to whoa . . . which shocks and stops the deer.
Their tails are up and they are looking at us, as we slowly start to flank around them on the trail. We get to about 50 yards away and I just stop and observe them. After about 5 minutes, the biggest deer (I assume its a doe - it could be a buck. I couldn't tell) starts stopping over. It looks almost like a female dog when its urinating and then starts kicking its rear legs out. It does this for a good 30 seconds, at which point the littlest deer starts moving. Which the dog catches, and then he breaks his point and the deer all run off and he chases them away (being a well trained and good lab - even if he can only hold his point for 5 minutes I whistle him back and he returns to my side immediatly).
We then walk up to where the deer were and I see this.
So, is this a scrape? I wasn't aware of deer (especially doe) making scrapes in the spring? Is this some sort of warning scrape (because I was there) or perhaps another communication??
The entire encouter was odd.
I was out with my dog in the local nature preserve tonight after work (Scotts Run, in McLean, VA overlooking the Potomac).
Since it was getting late, we decided to cut back along a pretty primitive deer/hiking trail. About halfway back to the car - with my dog a good 15 yards in front of us, we see 4 deer (2 does and 2 very small deer - either tiny does or fawns with fully developed coats and no spots) run up about 75 yards in front of us. The dog is about to take off and I whistle him to whoa . . . which shocks and stops the deer.
Their tails are up and they are looking at us, as we slowly start to flank around them on the trail. We get to about 50 yards away and I just stop and observe them. After about 5 minutes, the biggest deer (I assume its a doe - it could be a buck. I couldn't tell) starts stopping over. It looks almost like a female dog when its urinating and then starts kicking its rear legs out. It does this for a good 30 seconds, at which point the littlest deer starts moving. Which the dog catches, and then he breaks his point and the deer all run off and he chases them away (being a well trained and good lab - even if he can only hold his point for 5 minutes I whistle him back and he returns to my side immediatly).
We then walk up to where the deer were and I see this.
So, is this a scrape? I wasn't aware of deer (especially doe) making scrapes in the spring? Is this some sort of warning scrape (because I was there) or perhaps another communication??
The entire encouter was odd.
