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Good news regarding Petunia!! I'd mentioned in a recent post that I'd not seen her and that I was worried she might have been shot during hunting season. I took a walk into the woods the other day and spotted the little group she hangs with. I was talking loudly to myself so that if she was around she'd hear me. It was funny, I was watching the group as they leaped off into the woods, about 200 feet away and I just kept walking slowly down the trail thinking that if she was in the group she'd come back to me. Then I glanced to my left and she was right there, just 20 feet away and coming to me. Ah, so sweet. Relief. We hung out for about 15 minutes and then I left her. She followed me for a few minutes but then turned and went back in the direction of her friends. She seems healthy. We had a fantastic acorn crop so she's got plenty to eat. In fact I'd taken some apple out there and offered it to her, she wasn't interested. Didn't even take a nibble. I wonder if she mated this year and if she'll be having her first fawns this year?

The picture above was taken last winter. Amazing just how fluffy they look with their winter coats. The hair is hollow to hold air for insulation. I'm not too sure of the mechanics of it but it seems that when it gets really cold their skin contracts and the hair stands up creating the fluffy appearance and probably increasing the insulation effect of the hollow hair.