I'm curious to see what kind of fawning activity we'll begin to see over the next couple of weeks.
If you remember last fall, sometime around the 10th of October, we had numerous reports of active blacktail rutting behavior by large/mature bucks in the suburban areas, which seemed to end within a week of the first report. Certainly last year, there was an increased number of does entering an early estrous around that time. On many occasions, the first estrous cycle and breeding does not result in a successful pregnancy, but some percentage of the does will be impregnated.
The average gestation period of 203 days, counted out from (say 10 October for lack of a better date) the date of early noted early rut activity gives a fawning date of 01 May to perhaps the 8th of May for these does that bred successfully in early October. As occurs in all animals though, there is some variability in the length of time the fetus is carried, so the actual fawning dates may be several days earlier or later than this predicted birthing time-frame.
Signs that birthing is eminent or has occurred, other than finding a fawn in the grass, is the sudden appearance of yearlings out wandering aimlessly, and at odd hours, after being shunned by their mothers as she prepares to give birth. Also, the does themselves may be moving more in daylight as they travel between hiding fawns that were intentionally separated in order to minimize loosing both to a single predator.
I'd be interested to hear reports if anybody sees or suspects that fawning has begun.
