In between the raindrops – and there have been quite a few – we’ve been having some wonderful Fall weather. This afternoon, it was 71 on the porch before the sun came around. Now that it has, it’s about 76. There’s a pretty brisk breeze blowing, and it feels a lot cooler. You have a sense that the gears are turning and the season is about to change. I’m suspicious that we may have an early winter.
Saw a young buck this morning with antlers still in velvet. Later on in the fall, as the mating season gets going, they’ll attack young saplings and tear that velvet off their rack. In their own minds, at least, that makes them ready to fight for the doe of their dreams. Unfortunately, once in a while, the deer get their antlers locked, and both starve to death. That’s pretty rare. I’ve never seen it in a lifetime outdoors. The rut, as they call it, comes late to Fannin County. Certainly not before late November and very likely not until sometime in December.
We’ve been seeing the female Diana butterfly, one of the Haitstreaks – probably the grey – mating, and also the Great Spangled Frittilary.