Around central Texas, water is real scarce.  The stock tanks are drying up and if we could find a hoof print, there wouldn’t be any water in it because it had dried up too!  However, the water trough is attracting more wildlife, Tuesday night just past midnight, this doe looks wary and startled because of the gray fox, but neither of the animals are enemies, so the fox looks like it couldn’t be concerned.

Now, how about a quiz?   As this spike walks away from the water trough, how many deer are in the picture?  Look closely!

Wednesday morning this fox squirrel couldn’t resist gettin’ a drink.  Squirrels have a fondness for corn, acorns and pecans, but because of the drought there’s not much nut production, so it just settled for a drink.

The water trough is attracting more wildlife.  Wednesday afternoon this doe and her 2 spotted fawns stopped by for a drink, then this roadrunner thought it would wet it’s whistle.  No apparent animosity between the bird and the deer.

Early Friday morning, the 29th, a new spike showed up.  With the lack of moisture, food for deer is spotty at best and this year we are setting a record for spikes and scraggly racks.  This spike has some form to his horns, so maybe he’s just a quirk, will grow some horns next year and will survive this hunting season?

Just after midnight on August 4th, as his buddy was getting a drink, possibly a new buck showed up.  He sure doesn’t have the potbelly of the big, 6, pointer.  And, speaking of the devil, the big 6 showed up an hour later.  There’s not much food for these bucks, hence the poor antlers and added to that, we’ve never seen so many spikes!

The corn feeder is set to throw corn a little after 7:00 AM, then again just after 7:00 PM.  On the 26th, the morning feed was slightly postponed when the feeder went off scaring the deer congregating around it.  One of the deer was one not seen before, a young, buck with forked horns, hopefully, he’ll grow up!

The next morning, shortly after the feeder went off, a crow decided to join the feeding festivities.  Looks like the crow is squarin’ off against the deer.  Not ten minutes later, probably the same crow, is nonchalantly feeding while the deer, including the long horn, spike are looking on.
     
Early the morning of July 28th, this coon and young 6 pointer look like they are choosing their fighting positions.  Normally both get along peacefully, but food is food!

Tropical Storm, Don, fizzled out, only dropping a inch of rain on South Padre Island and the lower Rio Grande Valley.  We had been praying that the storm would be a real wet one and would break our statewide drought, but this means that the chance of food plots looks slimmer and slimmer.  This week we’ll put another feeder up and this one will be loaded with one-fourth, high protein pellets and three-fourths, corn.  We’ll see how this works.

Almost everything has to have water to thrive and with our severe drought conditions, water is a premium.  The closest water near us is about a half mile away and yesterday, Layla and I drove by it and saw the spring fed pool is almost dry obviously the spring is drying up.

Our home is watered with a 150 foot well and the livestock by a 60, foot well that has been is service since 1920, however the livestock has been sold off.  In fact we still have the old wind pump, or windmill, anchored above the well.  In normal times, this 60, foot well pumps water to the livestock and furnishes water for my garden, now it is dedicated solely to wildlife.

Wildlife are taking advantage of this supply too, in one 28, hour stretch, a raptor, deer and coons showed up.   First, were two doe and four spotted fawns, followed by a young, Coopers hawk.
    
Later that night, 3 bucks and an unknown variety of a deer came in for a drink.  At midnight, 2 nice 6 pointers came in.  All of these bucks should have much heavier racks, but our drought conditions, since last September, have severely limited production of forbs, acorns and pecans (pronounced in Texas as pe-cons’).  Yes, deer do eat pecans and many times, before and during deer season, we hear the booming guns used to scare deer out of the vast pecan orchards in our area.
    
Just past midnight, this pot bellied, buck was scared by the camera, or something else, and took off at high speed, but he couldn’t hide his pot.  He’s probably 7 or 8 years old, but who knows, until we check his teeth.  Then, here came the coons for a drink.
    
Finally, in mid afternoon, came a doe and her two spotted fawns and up walked our long horn, spike.  His days are numbered.

The great State of Texas allows hunters and landowners to feed wildlife, both in season and out of season and this becomes very important especially during periods of extended drought like we are experiencing now!  For the deer, food is scarce, water is scarce and it’s really tough times for wildlife!  Ranchers are feeding cows that haven’t been sold, paying exorbitant prices for baled hay, or feeding them hay baled last summer, or coastal Bermuda baled this spring, corn prices are skyrocketing, beef prices falling, stock tanks and water wells are drying up, tough times in Texas, in fact the entire southwest, for ranchers and livestock too!

Based on the preceding background, this week I started my corn feeder over a month early, generally starting them after Labor Day. Putting game cameras on a fence post around the corn feeder and a tree by the water trough, I was expecting some great “shots”, the pressure overcame me and I fudged on some shots from the trough, posting them on July 25.   Finally getting the memory cards out of the game cameras, then checking all of the pictures, it dawned on me that because there were so many good “shots”, I should split the posts and make one about the corn feeder and the other about the water trough.  Today’s post are pictures from the corn feeder.

The first deer to show up on the 22nd was a big spike.  First chance we get, he’ll get smoked!

Early Saturday morning, five more deer, four doe and a fawn stopped by for a bite.  After the deer left, four coons, a coon family, was picking up the corn.
    
Later Saturday morning, two squirrel and a doe showed up.  This goes to prove my theory that wildlife benefits from deer feeding.  So far deer, coons and squirrels are dining on the corn and who knows what else will show up?

Sunday morning, a spotted fawn and a doe were feeding and shortly a doe, a six pointer and button buck, along with a squirrel, posed for a “shot”.  A deer family, who knows, but it looks like it?
     
In the middle of the night on the 25th, this is a most unusual picture of a fawn nursing, while the mother picks up corn!  Everyone has to eat!  Later that morning a doe, spike and button buck stopped by, probably, adding the six pointer, the same deer family?
    
Monday afternoon, in my truck, I went out and replaced the memory card in the game camera, notice the “shot”, I’m in my summer outfit, boots, shorts, tee shirt and let me tell you, it was plenty hot!  The camera was almost too hot to touch, showing 118, but it was “cooking” in the sun.

For months since last spring, the entire southwestern United States has been under severe drought conditions, so it dawned on me, that with no rain, the price of cattle dropping and food crops non existent, I’d better start feeding the deer and other wildlife. So, Tuesday, after many trials and tribulations that included buying a complete new feeder, I finally fixed the old one and I’ll just use the new one in another spot.

Starting up the feeder and throwing two loads of corn, it dawned on me that it was time to unlimber my game cameras too.  Putting one on the feeder and the other on a rock, water trough, the water being the only available in a half-mile radius, we’d just see what showed up.  Not being able to withstand the pressure, after the first night I just had to check one of them.  Picking the water trough, not two hours after I installed the camera, up showed two young, doe with their two fawns, then ten minutes later I got this good, “shot” of  two fawns, one fawn jumping over the trough.
     
Then, just after 1:00 AM, on the 23rd, up shows a young, buck, one I’d never seen before.  Last week, driving down the County Road, a real nice 10 pointer jumped the fence on to my property, first time to see him too, but he hasn’t come to the water yet!

Then at 3:00 AM, three doe showed up for water.  Right after them a spike showed up, but the “shot” was too blurry.

With no rain, it’s useless to plant any food plots, so this week, I’ll crank up another feeder, loading it with corn and protein pellets.

This past Monday, the sun was just peeking over the horizon when I turned on to the County road beginning my one and a half mile morning walk.  Not having walked in almost two weeks, who knows what I’ll see this morning?  Not two hundred yards into my walk, looking toward my left, as I turned back to my right, a spotted fawn ran into the thick stuff and I was too slow to get a “shot”!

Walking on and bemoaning my loss of a pic of a spotted fawn, looking down a sendero I saw, with tail raised a doe with two, fawn, preparing for a quick departure.  The fawn on the left, finding out later when I transferred the pictures, that its tail was raised too.  All three took off in a sprint, but my hurried “shot” captured their escape.

Walking to my turn around point, nothing else was stirring, so I began heading back.  Soon, in the road ahead, a cardinal (northern cardinal) lit, I’m sure looking for some small pebbles.  It pecked around until I walked too close, then took off.

Getting this “shot” of the cardinal and not expecting anything else, all of a sudden, a male dove (mourning dove), sharp tail and all, lit on a utility wire close to me.  As I walked past, it kept sitting there.  I guess he was enjoying the morning?

Not many “shots” on this walk, but at least I worked up a good sweat!

No wind blowing this morning, maybe there will be game movement?  Not having even cleared the cattle gate, as I looked to my left, there was a skunk.  My first thought was to go get a rifle from the house and dispatch it, no, that would take too long, so I took these two “shots” with my camera.
    
Unlimbering my pistol at extreme range, to no avail except the skunk letting loose, I let loose two errant shots.  When last seen the skunk was heading west toward the thick stuff!

A hundred yards into my walk, a doe and her fawn were watching me as I passed.  To get a better look at the fawn, click on the picture.  Getting this “shot”, before I could get off another they were gone.

Along a fence line, these two doe had heard me coming and as I watched, they both slunk off into the thick stuff.  Walking quietly is tough on our gravel roads!

A hundred yards up the road this young jackrabbit was just sittin’ and enjoying the morning.  He sat still for a “shot”, but when I moved a few feet toward him, he sensed the danger and sped away.

Two mornings ago, I shot another young jack with my .22 auto.  I knew he was young because when I shot and missed it, instead of running off at full speed, he just hopped a few feet and continued nibbling at the tender shoots of grass.  Big mistake!

Getting up yesterday morning and looking outside, of all things it was raining, a nice shower, but it barely moved the rain gauge.  This shower also put a halt to my morning walk, but big things are happening today because at 5:16 PM, the sun stops!  Not really stops, but the declination of the sun, it’s apparent movement south on the horizon, appears to stop before reversing back to the north (I think).  Today’s also Brad’s birthday, he would have been fifty.

Summer solstice and all, I was up early for my walk and as I glanced over at the water trough, there were two deer, taking the “shot” and thinking this would be a good movement day for them put an additional spring in my step.

After getting home and displaying the “shot”, to my surprise, two small ones, obviously born maybe six weeks ago, were hunkered down beside Mom.  Retitling my “shot” to “Three Generations Of Deer”, may be in order.

As I walked back in the side door, I was buzzed by one of our barn swallows.  They are very protective of their young and get quite offensive whenever Layla and I come near their nests.  The go berserk whenever Bo or Spike come around.  Always thinking that mockingbirds do the biggest number on pets, these little guys are poison and far exceed
mockers in aggressiveness!

Last year, this barn swallow looked so “cute” sitting up in a dead tree.

This morning, the one that buzzed me was all movement, the camera shutter wasn’t fast enough to stop it.

Two morning walks this week and other than the sweat, not much wildlife was seen.  Several reasons for this are daytime temps are over a hundred, the moon is full and if the deer move, they move at night and probably the most important, we are still under a severe drought.  We haven’t had much rain in over a year, we’ve sold all the cattle because there’s no grass and even the Johnson grass in the field has stopped growing!

On my walk on the 14th, Tuesday, one deer, a doe, stopped in the middle of the road and let me get this “shot”.

But during my walk this morning I spied a really different snake, one that I’d never seen before and didn’t even know of the breed.  Taking these “shots” of it, as soon I got home I Yahoo’d it and came up with this answer from eHow.com.  “The typical ringneck snake is between 10 and 15 inches in length and quite thin. The various subspecies are dark gray on top and yellow to orange underneath, with the slender yellow and sometimes orange ring encircling the neck.”  Now I know that this kind of snake lives around here and at least it doesn’t bite!
    

Yes, I Yahoo’d it instead of Googling because I heard this morning on Fox News that  Google had been caught kicking back money to obama’s campaign!  They have denied it, of course!

The last few morning walks have been pictureless with no deer or any other wildlife holding still long enough for a “shot”.  Having seen, bucks, doe and a gray fox whetted my appetite, but they wouldn’t sit still!

This morning was different, not two hundred yards into my walk, there was a doe, but she already had her tail up and after my first “shot” she took off into the thick stuff, still with her tail up.
     
Just before the three quarter mile mark, my turn around point, up on a wire was a lone dove, a male by his long tail.  He was sitting up there enjoying the sunrise and to my surprise, upon displaying the picture, the sun was reflecting off of his buff colored breast.

Overall a good morning, some wildlife pictures and I worked up a good sweat!