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My Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines precocious as: “Exceptionally early in development” and “exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age.”
In reference to wildlife, a couple of examples are young turkeys and deer.
The young turkey, or poult, is off the nest in a day or two, closely following the hen’s daily routine of locating edible plants, seeds and insects. The poults quickly learn to mimic momma’s actions, and quickly gain weight and a better covering of feathers to stay warm and dry. They also gain the ability to fly — when necessary — either to avoid predators or to get high into the roost tree come sundown.
The young deer, or fawn. is also on its feet in a few short hours, and is practically glued to the side of the doe to feed on tree buds and tender branches en route to a full stomach.
Both young poults and fawns are quick to respond to mother’s warnings. Fawns drop to ground and freeze from the doe’s barked order. Poults do the same when the warning chirp is given by the hen turkey. In both cases, the natural camouflage of the spotted coat of the fawn and the mottled feather patterns on the poults serve to further camouflage the babies as they remain motionless until the all-clear is given.
In the case of turkeys, those poults are very fast and quick, and more so each day as they grow. Once they can fly, they can maneuver with such speed they can catch grasshoppers as the big bugs hop and fly about. This can be a most entertaining demonstration of the turkey mobility, because a fast-moving hopper can change directions at the flick of a wing or leg, and the young turkey will almost fall down trying to reverse direction to match the zigzag of a fleeing insect.
Deer fawns grow in size at an impressive rate. It’s not long before twins will start to be smaller or larger than their siblings, as the little bucks become larger than little does within weeks. While both sexes have spots when born in late May and early June, by the last of July the spots start to fade and the fawns take on the look of a miniature version of their mother in shape and color.
This change in deer coloring also coincides with a growing awareness of their surroundings, their abilities to move and run, and generally begin to get a little bit more independent and brave. Soon after birth, mother doe will usually leave fawns in a secluded spot and told not to move until she returns. Not long after, the fawn will follow the doe wherever she roams, closely at first, but then a bit slower, and wandering more than following.
Early in June, the fawn crosses the road almost at the flank of the doe. Later, as the spots begin to fade, the fawn may have dawdled a bit at that last batch of tasty brush and is now a bit behind its mother. Then the doe comes to a road and trots across. The older fawn may be a bit slow on realizing that mother has moved on, and then it’ll scamper to catch up. That’s when trouble can happen.
When you see a deer cross the road, you may think that’s a single animal. For the rest of the summer and well into fall and winter, it might be the first of another one, two or more deer playing catchup.
You don’t have to be a precocious driver to handle deer crossing the road. Just remember that one deer crossing the road can often mean more deer coming immediately it not sooner. Slow down until you’re well past the crossing spot, deer will survive another day and your vehicle won’t need repair work.
Local fishing and hunting expert Dick Hess can be reached at ColoradoHess@hotmail.com.
In reference to wildlife, a couple of examples are young turkeys and deer.
The young turkey, or poult, is off the nest in a day or two, closely following the hen’s daily routine of locating edible plants, seeds and insects. The poults quickly learn to mimic momma’s actions, and quickly gain weight and a better covering of feathers to stay warm and dry. They also gain the ability to fly — when necessary — either to avoid predators or to get high into the roost tree come sundown.
The young deer, or fawn. is also on its feet in a few short hours, and is practically glued to the side of the doe to feed on tree buds and tender branches en route to a full stomach.
Both young poults and fawns are quick to respond to mother’s warnings. Fawns drop to ground and freeze from the doe’s barked order. Poults do the same when the warning chirp is given by the hen turkey. In both cases, the natural camouflage of the spotted coat of the fawn and the mottled feather patterns on the poults serve to further camouflage the babies as they remain motionless until the all-clear is given.
In the case of turkeys, those poults are very fast and quick, and more so each day as they grow. Once they can fly, they can maneuver with such speed they can catch grasshoppers as the big bugs hop and fly about. This can be a most entertaining demonstration of the turkey mobility, because a fast-moving hopper can change directions at the flick of a wing or leg, and the young turkey will almost fall down trying to reverse direction to match the zigzag of a fleeing insect.
Deer fawns grow in size at an impressive rate. It’s not long before twins will start to be smaller or larger than their siblings, as the little bucks become larger than little does within weeks. While both sexes have spots when born in late May and early June, by the last of July the spots start to fade and the fawns take on the look of a miniature version of their mother in shape and color.
This change in deer coloring also coincides with a growing awareness of their surroundings, their abilities to move and run, and generally begin to get a little bit more independent and brave. Soon after birth, mother doe will usually leave fawns in a secluded spot and told not to move until she returns. Not long after, the fawn will follow the doe wherever she roams, closely at first, but then a bit slower, and wandering more than following.
Early in June, the fawn crosses the road almost at the flank of the doe. Later, as the spots begin to fade, the fawn may have dawdled a bit at that last batch of tasty brush and is now a bit behind its mother. Then the doe comes to a road and trots across. The older fawn may be a bit slow on realizing that mother has moved on, and then it’ll scamper to catch up. That’s when trouble can happen.
When you see a deer cross the road, you may think that’s a single animal. For the rest of the summer and well into fall and winter, it might be the first of another one, two or more deer playing catchup.
You don’t have to be a precocious driver to handle deer crossing the road. Just remember that one deer crossing the road can often mean more deer coming immediately it not sooner. Slow down until you’re well past the crossing spot, deer will survive another day and your vehicle won’t need repair work.
Local fishing and hunting expert Dick Hess can be reached at ColoradoHess@hotmail.com.
