On Tuesday I drove down to San Marcos, originally to see my Grandson, Austin, play in a middle school football game, but he had come down with something and didn’t get to suit up. His Dad, and my Son, Randy, had a birthday on the 12th and Rebekah, his daughter has a birthday next week, so I thought that I would kill two birds with one stone and deliver their b’day cards in person.

Driving through their subdivision toward their house, on both sides of the street, I started seeing deer, not one or two but bunches! Within three blocks, there must have been a hundred or more and all does or yearlings!

Finally, stopping the truck, I snapped this “shot” at the largest bunch.

Debbie, my Daughter-In-Law, had fixed Randy a late B’day dinner, including cake, and he then rushed of to a planning and zoning meeting, so I enjoyed a nice dinner on their shady, front porch, with Debbie and three of my Grandkids. Debbie mentioned that the city and their subdivision is at a loss about what to do with the deer?

Austin and San Marcos are the two most liberal towns in our state, and this problem could be fixed with bows and arrows, game nets or traps. New Jersey, Connecticut, Neuvo York and Pennsylvania are plagued with deer running wild in their towns and these folks just wring their hands and, like San Marcos, do nothing and the problem grows!

Driving out of their subdivision I spied two bucks and snapped a “shot” at them. They were grazing on the newly sprouted grass.

On August 4th, I posted a story and pictures about “What Is A Melanistic Deer” that Randy had photographed in his subdivision and there was no grass, just dry barren yards.

The city was in the midst of the worst drought in memory.

But the breaking of the drought is another story!

On Saturday the 3rd, we had a half-inch rain, followed by a two inches during the night! No walking on Sunday morning, but Monday, I did get a two-miler in.
Monday morning was cloudy with a heavy, dew as I hurried outside to start my walk and I saw the white first as three does rocketed over my fence, tails high, and into the thick stuff. No pictures since my camera was still in my fanny pack.
County road 408 was muddy, not slushy, as I finished my mile and turned around to head home, then I noticed something small and out of place – a crawdad.
My first impression was that it was an Opelousas Red, but it would be too far from home, so I guessed it was a local “mud bug” having strayed away from a stock tank. With the rocks it looks out of place. Maybe it was just out hunting?
Coming to a curve in the road I noticed animal tracks that weren’t there when I first came by. Maybe a coyote tried to sneak by me?
Closer inspection showed them to be a large dog. The tracks were round and if a coyote, they’d have been more oval.
Last Saturday a neighbor lost three of his hounds. Looks like this one was heading home and snuck past me when I turned the curve.
This was a good walk! I saw some unusual things and I worked up a good sweat!

Many may think that I’m spoiled or else very blessed to be covered up with deer all year. That’s not the case. Right now in Mills County, water is everywhere, acorns cover the ground under our oak trees and deer really have no reason to move around.

Yesterday morning our part of the Texas Hill Country had a heavy dew, almost a sprinkle and as I stepped out for my walk, I thought, Maybe today I’ll get some good pictures, because the last two walks have produced nothing. Walking east on County Rd. 406 for three quarters of a mile the only things stirring were three cows near a stock tank and some goats milling about getting ready for the day’s grazing.

Turning around and heading for home, still nothing and approaching my yard, confusion reigned, deer were running everywhere and I thought, Wait a minute, this is my yard, why all the deer? Trying to snap off a “shot” was as hard as “trying to heard cats”. Snapping off five quick ones with zero results, I was still left with no pictures, only mind pictures of the six deer running around, jumping the fence, tails up, beating a quick retreat out of my yard.

At least walking worked up a good sweat!

Because of my kidney stones, followed by surgery for a cancer on my nose, my last morning walk was on August 25th. My planning had been to start this past Monday but the weather intervened, misting rain, then on Tuesday over three inches of rain, making Wednesday too muddy. However, I was out bright and early yesterday morning!

Our sandy, County roads dry out pretty good, but the heavy dew still made for slick walking, at least, it was quiet walking.

The deer weren’t out, only one fawn, but I’m sure that Momma was close by. It’s pretty late in the year now, but this one still had its spots. At Church this past Sunday a friend told me that coming in from his ranch he had just seen a spotted fawn with two spikes. Strange!

Nothing real exciting yesterday, but our weather is changing and it’ll be dry for the next several days and things should pick up then. After next week my nose will be cleared up and the doc is releasing me to do anything I want. That means softball, hunting and getting ready for deer season, and hopefully, no more limping around!

My post on September 13, about sighting a cougar outside of Hondo, Texas reminded me of a funny story relating to Hondo, written Lee Wallace, my Great Uncle.

In 1896 Lee, my Mother’s favorite Uncle, was a young man, just out of college and he sent a number of letters to potential cities where he might open up a legal practice. The response is very funny!

INQUIRY

“Early in 1896, as a young attorney, I was casting about for a new location somewhere in the great southwest. Among other inquiries made by letter, one was directed to the Justice Of the Peace At Hondo, Texas, giving some details about myself and asking some. I told him I was a young attorney, unmarried, somewhat nervous because of temporary health impairment, asking the price of board, number of local attorneys, number of population of the County, and expressing my preference to board with some quiet family without children, if suitable place could be found.”

“The following is copy of reply to my inquiry:”

“Hondo City, Jan’y 30th, 1896

Lee Wallace, Esq.

Canton, Texas

Dear Sir:

Your letter of inquiry of date Jan’y 24th has been duly rec’d and contents prayerfully and carefully considered. You say you are a young attorney, but neglected to state how young. All our attorneys consider themselves young, though there is not one who has passed the half-century post. You say you are unmarried. Bless you, my boy, come here and we can so soon marry you off. Our female population is largely in excess of the male.

You won’t be unmarried long. Come right off.

Board can be had from $25.00 per week to $2.50 per month, according to where you board and how you can chaw hash.

We have no quiet families here. Every family is well provided with howling, yelling kids, and besides the head of the family gets home about 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., well tanked up, and the old woman and he have a hell of a time until day. But come and marry and establish a quiet family of your own.

There are five regular attorneys here, but about 45 curbstone lawyers, the latter get the business and the former are engaged in hunting lost mines. But come here, we’ll marry you off and you can help us in the way of increasing the population and looking dignified. The population of this county is about 5000, but this being an election year, it will run up to about 7500.

Hoping to see you soon,
I am very truly yours,

A.M. Lamm
J. P. Pr. 1, Medina Co.
Hondo City, Texas.”

Lee choose Kerrville!

Yesterday’s walk didn’t produce any wildlife pictures because of the activity around here, cutting and bailing hay. Tractors and a lot of noise puts the wild things way back in the thick stuff.
My thirty acre, hay field, Sudan grass, produced one hundred and eleven, big, round bales. The record, year before last, was one hundred and sixty-seven bales! Last years crop, ruined by lack of rain, was a mighty, six bales. You take the good with the bad!
Here is a prepared, four acre, coastal Bermuda, field that will yield up to eight bales.
The serious stuff, dove hunting, starts a week from this coming Tuesday and if we don’t get any real strange weather, we’re expecting a great crop of mourners, white wings and ring necks!

Having overslept, I was walking backwards out of my driveway, watching Bo and Spike to see if they were coming with me and not thinking about the time. I turned around and was looking right into the sun.

Being lazy I thought that I would just go along on my walk down County Road 406, sun or no sun, however, I knew that there wouldn’t be any wildlife pictures this morning. Going, I couldn’t keep my head up looking for anything and coming back, we’d have already scared everything off!

Bo and Spike generally walk a very short distance with me then go off after whatever fancies them, but today they saved the day.

They kept up pretty good until I looked back and saw that Bo had decided to lie down on the job. Only a cat would take this particular time to stretch out and I was lucky to get this picture.

Rain washed out my morning walk on August 1 and on the third we traveled to Raleigh, N.C. to play in the Senior Softball, Eastern National Championships, so it was good to get out early yesterday and get my walk in.

When I started the sun hadn’t peeked over the horizon and for half of the way nothing of interest showed up. Rounding a curve an alpaca was grazing and guarding the goats.

Coyotes and bobcats prey on the young goats, sheep and deer and ranchers around here use alpaca or donkeys, both are very protective, to keep the predators away.

Coming back towards my house, finally, two doe were watching me and I got this “shot”.
Walking on, clearing a cedar that was masking me, there was a doe and her two fawns. The one on the left still has its spots.

Softball is fun, but it’s really nice to get out early each morning and enjoy nature’s sights!

A melanistic deer is a white tail deer that is almost black. This condition is caused by an excess of melanism pigment and the genetic cause is unknown.

Dr. John Baccus is the director of the wildlife ecology program at Texas State University, located in San Marcos, Texas, and has been studying melanistic deer for over 13 years. He says, “Central Texas has more of these unusual deer than anywhere else.”

Funny he would say that! Last Thursday afternoon, my son, Randy, who, by the way, lives in San Marcos, was out doing his afternoon run/walk in his neighborhood and excitedly called me and said, “Dad, there’s a melanistic deer right ahead of me!”

He took these two pictures of the unusual deer and sent them to me.

On my August 2nd post I mentioned the rain that we have had and that the rest of our great State was suffering under a class four drought. Just take a look at the yards in San Marcos. The grass looks dead, the trees are hanging on and those folks down there are in trouble!

Rain on Wednesday and Thursday morning mornings washed out on my morning walks. We had almost one and a half inches total. While the rest of our great State is suffering through a class four drought, this year we have already exceeded our yearly total and late fall and winter are our “rainy season”.

Friday’s walk produced pictures of six different does, but no horns or fawns.

The first one was just as I left my driveway and when I took the “shot”, in the distance another one popped up.

Looking to my right another was checking me out and within three hundred yards another one                        

 
Then walking back to my house and passing my hog trap, which was baited, but empty, there were two does behind it. One was almost hidden by the underbrush.

These early morning walks are fun, seeing so much wildlife is neat and, just think, it is even a healthful thing to do!