October 2020 – French Broad Hollow Ramble

Open the post in your browser to avoid scrolling through individual photos that are in slideshows and galleries.

I’m happy to let you know that we’ve had no more reports of dead deer!

I’ve seen no bucks, young or otherwise, but the does and the 202o fawns continue to come. They usually number between eight and twelve; some of them are newcomers and show up only occasionally. Something is wrong with the ear of one of the 2020 fawns (I’m calling it “Flopsy”), but it’s not the fawn who lets me pet him/her (“Friendly”).

We haven’t had much rain since the last post, but we got a little today. If you go through the slideshow below you can see changes in the river and in the foliage.

10-11-20
10-12-20
10-13-20
10-14-20
10-15-20
10-16-20
10-17-20
10-18-20
10-19-20
10-21-20
10-22-20
10-23-20
10-24-20
10-25-20

I much prefer how I posted the river photos before the “upgrade”, but below is one feature that some readers have told me they like; it really shows how the foliage has changed in two weeks.

The foliage this year seems to be peaking about now. I’m sure there are more spectacular views in the higher elevations and with wider horizons, but I’m perfectly content with what I see on my rambles in our little hollow. Sometimes I simply have to stop and admire the beauty. (None of these has been enhanced.)

Truth be told, I’m pretty content with what I see out my kitchen window and from my porch and deck.

I’m still seeing some flowers and butterflies when I walk, but my cats and my eyes are telling me it’s time to stop for now. Here’s the (new) usual ending with field across the ridge, and a chance to compare the two-week differences.

10-11-20
10-12-20
10-13-20
10-14-20
10-15-20
10-16-20
10-17-20
10-18-20
10-19-20
10-21-20
10-22-20
10-23-20
10-24-20
10-25-20

This blog displays best in a browser, not on facebook or a mobile device.

9-30-20
10-1-20
10-2-20
10-4-20
10-5-20
10-6-20
10-8-20
10-9-20

It is hard to write this post: Something has been killing the deer in the Hollow. The new neighbor stopped me last week and asked if it was normal to see dead deer in the Hollow; he had seen three in the prior few days—a fawn that had lost its spots and a couple of does.

And then there were four. The mangled body of a young buck was found next to one of the roads I walk daily, just over the edge of the steep slope. I had to look to be sure, and I’m positive that it was either Bambi or Bro.

After having been so regular, neither had been showing up to eat for several weeks, although I had been looking. I know that the young bucks are often run off by the does or by larger bucks as the rut approaches, but several neighbors had seen them. I kept hoping they would return, and I still keep looking in hopes that one will show up.

I’ve written about death in the Hollow before, usually about deer hit by vehicles on the highway. Last year a small fawn was killed by a bobcat, but we have never before had healthy adult deer killed. No one thinks it’s human hunters; they wouldn’t just leave the carcasses (which don’t last long as scavengers do their part in the circle of life). The most likely killers are coyotes and/or a bobcat, but no one knows. It’s a sad and somewhat frightening unanswered question and seems to fit right in with the rest of 2020.

Fortunately, 2020 has been a typically beautiful fall here in the Hollow (except for the remnants of a couple of hurricanes; Delta has brought us rain almost all day long today, and some of it has been torrential). The trees are changing color almost daily, and the fall flowers continue to bloom. The thistles and other plants are releasing their seeds to the wind (or the birds!).