'Tis The Season

It is the season of raging hormones, and it isn't just the goat girls who are in the mood.  That buck and his ladies I saw the other day are a good indicator that those boys are in rut now.  Deer, like goats, have a five-month gestation and breeding now will put the fawns on the ground when feed is at its best for the milk-producing does in the spring.

Turkeys who normally travel in small, sexually-segregated groups are massing together.  Looking out while milking yesterday, I counted close to fifty of the big birds cruising through the goat pen, jumping over the fence and into the front yard.  They seemed to be rehearsing for the big show; some toms fanning their tail feathers and strutting their stuff, a few minor skirmishes here and there, and the ladies' chorus tuning up in the cheering section.  The alphas, the junior contenders, and the omegas were defining their roles, but no serious battles were being fought.  Having a ringside seat and seeing this many wild birds so close is pretty amazing.

I wish I knew more about the turkey vultures.  The maintenance crew left behind after the annual migration numbers about thirty this year.  Most of them sit sunning themselves on posts around the goat pen every morning.  It is nearly impossible to tell male from female; they have none of the sexual characteristics of their namesakes, the turkeys.  Not only are these birds silent, they are also very private; none of the braggadocio of the turkeys regarding masculine prowess, and if they have a mating ritual, it is performed away from prying eyes.

Tennyson wrote, "In the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love;" all well and good.  In the animal world, it appears fall is the season for all that mushy stuff.