![\"mule](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/mule-deer-7666-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFences are a problem for wildlife in Montana’s Centennial Valley. The\u00a0 27 mile long main access road that runs the length of the valley is lined closely on both sides by fences that are a mishmash of types and conditions and most of them are not “wildlife friendly”. It’s common for deer and pronghorn to breach one of the fences and graze the more lush vegetation along the gravel road that hasn’t already been chomped down by cattle. When that happens and a vehicle comes along the animal typically feels menaced and trapped by that noisy, dusty contraption and panics as it tries to cross the\u00a0fence and escape to safety.<\/p>\n
The fences are especially problematic for pronghorn because they typically can’t jump the fences\u00a0so they\u00a0have to find a break in the lower wire or a place where that wire is high enough off the ground that they can duck underneath it but deer\u00a0can have a difficult time with the fences too. About three weeks ago in the early morning\u00a0I encountered this deer along the road\u00a0and because of somewhat unusual circumstances it had difficulty finding a place where it could jump the fence.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In this area there was a very steep slope directly\u00a0in front of the fence that made jumping it from this side\u00a0almost impossible. As I approached in my pickup this animal and several others obviously\u00a0felt trapped so I simply stopped on the road\u00a0and gave them time\u00a0to find a spot\u00a0in the fence they could negotiate. It took them a while but eventually they settled on this spot but even then the only way they could jump it was to stand right next to the fence where they were at\u00a0the\u00a0top of the slope and jump it almost lengthwise – thus this unusual angle of the deer\u00a0in the air to the fence. If I had continued along the road at my usual speed of 30 mph they may have felt panicked enough that they’d have been forced to jump at a more dangerous spot and\u00a0one or more of them could have become entangled in the fence.<\/p>\n From a conversation I had on this trip\u00a0with an employee of nearby Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge I know that local ranchers are feeling some pressure to make their fences more wildlife friendly but fences are an expensive proposition and I suspect that any improvements will take some time. I hope it happens sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n Based largely on\u00a0its tail (white above, tipped with black)\u00a0I can only conclude that the animal in this photo is a Mule\u00a0Deer (White-tailed Deer are more common in the\u00a0valley)\u00a0but several of its features sure look strange to me. I don’t pretend to know a lot about deer but the almost black face\u00a0and ears seem to me to be\u00a0out-of-place to say the least.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A huge crop of the previous image gives us a better look at the head. I simply can’t reconcile this black coloration with any other Mule Deer (or any other deer species for that matter) I’ve ever seen. I had photos of the other deer with this animal as they jumped the fence but they were soft so sadly I deleted them before I noticed anything unusual about this one.<\/p>\n I’d appreciate\u00a0feedback about this animal from any readers who may know more about deer than I do. Is this one atypical or is this coloration within the normal range of variation within the species?<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fences are a problem for wildlife in Montana’s Centennial Valley.<\/p>\n![\"mule](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/mule-deer-7666-big-crop-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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