Natural Beauty
by Nava Thompson
Title
Natural Beauty
Artist
Nava Thompson
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A photo of a Whitetail Doe taken by Nava Jo Thompson on the backroads in Bentonville Arkansas. ...... ...........Female with tail in alarm postureThe deer's coat is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The deer can be recognized by the characteristic white underside to its tail, which it shows as a signal of alarm by raising the tail during escape. There is a population of white-tailed deer in the state of New York that is entirely white (except for areas like their noses and toes)not albinoin color. The former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, New York, has the largest known concentration of white deer. Strong conservation efforts have allowed white deer to thrive within the confines of the depot.........Size and weight ......The white-tailed deer is highly variable in size, generally following Bergmann's rule that the average size is larger further away from the Equator. North American male deer (also known as a buck or stag) usually weighs 60 to 130 kg (130 to 290 lb) but, in rare cases, bucks in excess of 159 kg (350 lb) have been recorded. Mature bucks over 400 pounds are recorded in the northernmost reaches of their native range, specifically, Minnesota and Ontario. In 1926, Carl J. Lenander, Jr. took a white-tailed buck near Tofte, MN, that weighed 183 kg (400 lb) after it was field-dressed (internal organs removed) and was estimated at 232 kg (510 lb) when alive.[4] The female (doe) in North America usually weighs from 40 to 90 kg (88 to 200 lb). White-tailed deer from the tropics and the Florida Keys are markedly smaller-bodied than temperate populations, averaging 35 to 50 kg (77 to 110 lb), with an occasional adult female as small as 25.5 kg (56 lb).[5] White-tailed deer from the Andes are larger than other tropical deer of this species and have thick, slightly woolly-looking fur. Length ranges from 95 to 220 cm (37 to 87 in), including a tail of 10 to 36.5 cm (3.9 to 14.4 in), and the shoulder height is 53 to 120 cm (21 to 47 in).[6][7] Including all races, the average summer weight of adult males is 68 kg (150 lb) and is 45.3 kg (100 lb) in adult females..........Deer have dichromatic (two-color) vision with blue and yellow primaries;.. humans have trichromatic vision. Thus deer poorly distinguish the oranges and reds that stand out so well to humans.[10] This makes it very convenient to use deer-hunter orange as a safety colour on caps and clothing to avoid accidental shootings during hunting seasons..........Male white-tailed deerMales re-grow their antlers every year. About 1 in 10,000 females also have antlers, although this is usually associated with hermaphroditism.[11] Bucks without branching antlers are often termed "Spikehorn", "spiked bucks", "spike bucks" or simply "spike". The spikes can be quite long or very short. Length and branching of antlers is determined by nutrition, age, and genetics. Rack growth tends to be very important from late spring till about a month before velvet sheds. During this time frame damage that may be done to the racks tends to be permanent. Healthy deer in some areas that are well fed can have eight-point branching antlers as yearlings (one and a half years old).[12] The number of points, the length or thickness of the antlers are a general indication of age but cannot be relied upon for positive aging. A better indication of age is the length of the snout and the color of the coat, with older deer tending to have longer snouts and grayer coats. Some say that deer that have spiked antlers should be culled from the population to produce larger branching antler genetics (antler size does not indicate overall health), and some bucks' antlers never will be wall trophies. Where antler growth nutritional needs are met (good mineral sources, i.e., calcium) and good genetics combine it can produce wall trophies in some of their range.[13] Spiked bucks are different from "button bucks" or "nubbin' bucks", that are male fawns and are generally about six to nine months of age during their first winter. They have skin covered nobs on their heads. They can have bony protrusions up to a half inch in length, but that is very rare, and they are not the same as spikes.
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May 31st, 2013
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Comments (55)
Ann Pride
Great name for this natural beauty. Well done Nava. Congratulations on your feature in A Woman's Touch group
Carolyn Rosenberger
Congratulations on your Best of the best feature in WF&S group! Excellent work! L&F
Jennifer White
Congratulations your wonderful photo has been featured in the Ozarks Photo and Art Collection Group. You are invited to post your featured image in the featured image discussion thread as a permanent place to continue to get exposure even after the image is no longer on the Home Page.
Donna Kennedy
Congratulations on your Best of the Best homepage feature in Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery!...L/F
Randy Rosenberger
Such magnificent detail, Nava! Awesome capture. Hope this finds you doing well and enjoying the summer temps. CONGRATULATION for being chosen as one of our โBest of the Bestโ artists for this 14 day round on our homepage. It is an honor for me to promote your beautiful pieces of artwork. You are to be highly commended for your talents in the works you have submitted to me for featuring. With this quality of artwork that I love, I will continue to do my best to feature and promote each of you as a fine artist within our WFS group. Happy sales till we meet again!
Meryl Goudey
What detailed and beautiful features.v/f
Nava Thompson replied:
Thank you Meryl--I don't always get opportunities like this one--it is usually low light and long distance shots. Appreciate the v/f
Will Borden
A fantastic close-up of the doe, Nava Jo!!! F&V!
Nava Thompson replied:
Thank you Will---always appreciate hear from you! Thank you for your comments and f/v!
Doug Kreuger
Nava Jo, what an amazingly crisp capture! You must have been nose-to-nose with this beautiful deeror have a really nice lens. I love the alert expression you captured on this wonderful animal. I'm certain it was in response to the sounds of your presence, but it must have also been aware of your non-threatening kindness and gentle nature, as we too have come to know you. Superb Excellence, as with all of your spectacular artwork!! F&V
Nava Thompson replied:
Doug---wow--what can I say --words escape me---I have such respect for you as a 'person' --and as an 'expert' artist---so happy to have you as a team member--so this means a lot to me. Thank you very much!
Lingfai Leung
Hello cutie, Doe,a deer...A Female Deer! v/f
Nava Thompson replied:
Lingfai----great to hear from you! Thank you for your cute comments and f/v! :)