Another beautiful morning at The Norfleet Wildlife Refuge + Wine Bar

Good Morning Monday! 

Eyelashes

Very hard to do his eyelashes justice in a photo.

They are beyond belief in person. 

Sliding Scale

So just how cute is Blake? 

Well, you know how it's common practice to ask people to quantify cuteness by asking: 
"How cute- on a scale from one to ten?" 

Let's just say from now on that question should be "How cute -on a scale from one to Blake?" 

***

Sleepless in St John...

Another sleepless night thanks to you know who.

I climbed into bed at a decent hour last night but when Blake jumped into bed a few minutes later his body temperature was low. Since it was such a hot day yesterday, I was very concerned about his feeling so cool. Between my deciding that he definitely was cool, deciding that something had to be done about his body temperature, to deciding what to do about it, I wound up awake most the night. That he was acting "woozy" the whole time did not make my night any easier. 

The important thing is that this morning one of us is bright eyed and bushy-tailed,

and that is all that matters.

Look who’s looking a right proper deer!

Well, except for his black and white polka dot shirt with 

aqua collar and purple feather boa.

Other than that, 

a right proper deer.

•••

This Morning

Eat your heart out Vermeer... 
(Blake sleeping in this morning.)

Rough Night

The last four days Blake has been grazing a lot, drinking his goat milk/water mix from a bowl during the day and getting a very small bottle of watered down goat milk/water mix at night. But tonight I thought maybe Blake gets so excited every time he sees his bottle because he needs it nutritionally; the way we'll crave certain foods because they have some nutrient we need. Worried he needed more bottle feeding, I let him have a bigger bottle tonight. Big mistake. I'm so mad at myself, I should have known better. After letting him have a big bottle tonight he blew up like a helium balloon. I've spent the last five hours by his side massaging him and wiping him down with a warm damp towel in order to make him to poop and pee. I was really scared. He is amazing but he is not a cute helium balloon. I am very relieved to report that he is resting now and back to looking himself. Given tonight’s events, I now believe he is not craving the nutrition inside the bottle but simply likes the comfort of nursing. And that made me think of him losing his mom and her losing her life and that made me cry most the night but it also made me realize how truly lucky I am that I get to be a part of so many amazing animals’ lives... 

Rough night. 

Good Morning

Time for Bed

Sweet dreams...

Doug + Blake

Adult male whitetail deer.

Hard to believe our little "Caper Maker" will look like this one day...

This morning I noticed Blake staring intently across the room and getting agitated. I looked to see what was upsetting him but there was nothing there. Then I noticed that a white label on a pillow was flapping in the breeze. I was puzzled that it was upsetting him, he is usually very calm or curious, not often agitated. 


Just as I was about to say “Don't tell me you're afraid of a little label” I realized: 
There is a white label flapping in the wind. 
Blake is a white tailed deer. 
They alert each other to danger by flashing the white underside of their tails to each other. 


So I decided to go with it. I sounded my “danger” noise, scooped him up, cut off the label then put him back down and made my “happy noise”. He looked over at the pillow, saw no danger sign, and was totally back to his usual laid-back self. 


He is so damn smart.

***

I woke up this morning with a rooster sleeping on my head, 

a deer sleeping on my neck, a cat sleeping on my stomach and 

a pile of capers on my chest. 

Only they weren't capers.

Who's not a Big Boy on his Big Boy Towel?!?

***

***

La Cage aux Doe

“Create your own style…
  let it be unique for yourself
  and yet identifiable for others.”     - Anna Wintour.............

 I am keeping Blake’s Harness on him even when he is off the lead so
I can easily spot him if he dashes off into the bush.
This “outfit” is born out of the function of health and safety by
creating a unique and clearly identifiable look for Blake.
I believe Ms. Wintour would approve...

My friend Patty calls this his “La Cage aux Doe” look.

Blake’s New Name:

“Pellet Maker”

 

Blake created this masterpiece last night around 11pm.

This is his first 100% yellow-slime free all pellet poop.

You have no idea how excited I was, still am, because of this. -cheryl

For All The Rescues...

All the animals in this are rescues I’ve been blessed to care for over the last few years. 

Except for Miles. I did not rescue Miles, he rescued me. 

In order of appearance: Stinky G., Cubby, Pebbles & Miles, Tina & Tiny, 

Buster, Phoebe, Blake & Geoffrey & Patience, Maya. 

Garden Kitsch

One of my lawn ornaments is not like the others...

Good Morning Wednesday! 

Another big run this morning and about an hour of grazing on many different plants. Pooped all by himself again as well. All in all a very eventful morning which deserves a good long nap.

7am
Tons of grazing and eating lots of different plants.

Also went poo all by himself.
Good amount staying firm with slime around it.
Pinched off and fell to ground all by himself.

Then another BIG RUN!
The biggest yet.
Ran a little more than halfway around the house.

I am very happy with this mornings events.

About an hour after grazing Blake had 2oz of 50/50 mix.
Squirted out a little yellow slime poo.

Helped to get him to pee.

Medium amount of pee.

Pee had a faint yellow tint.

Till now it has been completely colorless.

I think the greens added the yellow tint to the pee.

Time to feed "The Beast"...

Just got in from our longest run yet,

halfway around the house!

Now it’s time to sleep some more.

Run Blake, Run

Blake’s wearing his harness which I made from a tube sock. 

Rainy Day

We went for a run this morning. 

Blake went poo all by himself while out for a walk. 

He did some grazing also. 

But mostly Blake’s just taking it easy this rainy Sunday.

Whitetail Deer Communication

Communication

White-tailed deer communicate in many different ways using sounds, scent, body language, and marking. All white-tailed deer are capable of producing audible noises unique to each animal. Fawns release a high-pitched squeal, known as a bleat, to call out to their mothers. A doe makes maternal grunts when searching for her bedded fawns. Grunting produces a low, guttural sound that will attract the attention of any other deer in the area. Both does and bucks snort, a sound that often signals danger. As well as snorting, bucks also grunt at a pitch that gets lower with maturity. Bucks are unique in their grunt-snort-wheeze pattern that often shows aggression and hostility. Another way white-tailed deer communicate is with their white tail. When a white-tail deer is spooked it will raise its tail to warn the other deer in the area that can see it.

Whitetail Deer Birth and Fawn Age

Whitetail deer females give birth to 1–3 spotted young, known as fawns, in mid to late spring, generally in May or June. 
Fawns lose their spots during the first summer and will weigh from 44 to 77 pounds (20 to 35 kg) by the first winter. 
Male fawns tend to be slightly larger and heavier than females. 
For the first four weeks, fawns mostly lie still and hide in vegetation while their mothers forage. 
Fawns are able to follow their mothers on foraging trips. 
They are weaned after 8–10 weeks. 
Males will leave their mothers after a year and females leave after two.

6am feeding

Went straight outside for a medium length walk.
Chewed some wet grass, did not eat it.
Took a big bite out of a leaf, ate that.

Requisite little squirty poo from standing up happened. but no other poo.
No Pee.

After 10 minute walk laid down so I went and got warmed bottle.

Drank 3 oz no peeing or pooing while drinking.

Brought him inside and he walked about 4 feet then hunched over and started pooing.

Good amount of firm reddish brown poo.
All of which he pinched off and fell to ground.

Then coaxed some pee, once started he finished it off all by himself.
I'd say about 4 tablespoons of pee.

The manscaping we did last Sunday is really keeping the mess down.
Will redo it today or tomorrow.

Blake Running in the House

Romeo is not easily amused. 

12:30am feeding

Ate 3 oz  of 50/50 mix.

Good amount of poo.
The darker reddish brown variety.
Nice and firm, not pellets, but very firm.
He pinched most of it off and it fell to ground; did not get stuck in fur.
He had to bend his back to poo tonight to poo.
The warm water on the rag really gets him in the mood to poo.
Some of the yellow slimey stuff, but very little.
No green solids.
I need to track grazing time and when there are green solids in the poo better.


Lots of pee.
Lots of coaxed pee (maybe 2 tablespoons) and then lots of all on his own pee ( 4 to 5 tablespoons)

8pm feeding

4 oz 50/50 mix

great poo.
2 definite pellets, both green
clearly a result of a fair amount of grazing today.

some ubiquitous yellow slime also

feeling pretty sure we're gonna see soft yellow-rust poo until he's off the goat's milk.

Very little pee.
less than a table spoon.
I'll keep an eye on that.

Last dose of medicine was yesterday and he is feeling SO much better. Went for 4 very short runs today. Really more like "dashes". Yesterday was our first dash and he did it because a car down the road scared him. Today the first dash was because a noise scared him, but the last 3 dashes during the rest of the day were clearly for pure fun. I think there's one more dash tonight before bed time. 

8am feeding

6oz 50/50
No pee, but he had pee's in his crate.

Medium amount of good firm poo.
Same yellow-orange color.

Went for a medium walk after eating.
Chewed some TamTam but didn't eat it.

Decided to lay down in shady tall grass during walk so I brought him back to his outdoor pen where he is resting.

Big walk in new harness from about 4:30 to 5pm. Lots of grazing! Harness worked GREAT! Blake had a blast.

About 4oz of 50/50 mix after his walk.
Fair amount of poop.
Fair amount of pee.

Last dose of medication today.

All is good! -c

On the bed this afternoon.

Blake & Kate.

8:50 to 9:15 feeding

2 ounces 50/50 mix.

Little pee.
3 good poops.
Still yellow slime around, but main poo fairly firm.

After bottle walked about 3 feet then did a big pee all on his own.

Gonna try to make a harness for him this afternoon so I can take him in yard for a walk but still be sure he doesn't dart off.

Overall very happy with feeding, peeing and pooing.

Gonna measure him also as I think he's already grown a bit.

4 am feeding took 45 minutes.

I am very surprised by this as it really did not seem like it took that long. 

Granted, when I thought we were all done pooing and peeing I got a bonus round.

A big bonus round.

But still, it did not seem like it took that long.

Will see how long non-bonus round feedings take today.

5oz of 50/50 goat milk to water - bottle ran out but he went to bed willingly.

Need to prepare bigger bottles for the ever growing buck, especially for the 4 hour apart nighttime feedings. 

Back to the yellow poo but not as runny as days of old.

Amount: medium

Poo smells again. I am hoping that is a good sign.

Could this mean that nutrients are passing through him, making the poo smell, because he now has extra nutrients in his system because the intestinal parasites are gone and therefore not taking all the nutrients???

Lots of pee.

Needing lots of help to get started, after bottle passed a lot of pee of his own accord.

I love it when he pees of his own accord.

Rained all day, no trips outside and no grazing.

Brought him grasses inside, but he did not eat any.

He ran around the house quite a bit.

He's getting very fast even on tile floor.

Today at 4pm is his last dose of medicine for coccidia.

Will watch odor of poo to see if it changes when he is done with his medicine. 

NOTE: Hide the bottle until after cleaning behind and getting to pee. He will sit still for some pre feeding pooing and peeing if he doesn't see the bottle. If he see's the bottle first it's all he wants and is antsy till he gets bottle and is impossible to wipe and get to pee. There will still be pooing and peeing while on the bottle even with pre-feeding pooing and peeing - just there will be less and it is much easier to clean. 

Nighty night. 

But Will the 3rd Base Coach Wave Him In?

Walking and running stronger everyday.

In fact, Blake even made it to first base with Kate this afternoon.

Cheeky & Sleepy

Buster HATES Blake

Jealous.