Dark glands?

[knightrider]

Have a bunch of different pics of does with dark tarsal glands? Anyone care to shed some light on this for me, thanks

 

[Ski]

They pee on their hocks just like bucks do, and get the same staining. I see it pretty often on older does.

 

[backyardtndeer]

Yep, does tarsals will be stained the darkest around the rut.

 

[BSK]

Haven't noticed that. But perhaps it has something to do with the major hormonal changes that occur at this time of year due to fawn birthing.

 

[knightrider]

They pee on their hocks just like bucks do, and get the same staining. I see it pretty often on older does.

For sure during the fall but never seen it in the spring/summer

 

[knightrider]

Yep, does tarsals will be stained the darkest around the rut.

And normally white/ light brown outside of the rut, but they are stained as bad as November right now

 

[knightrider]

Haven't noticed that. But perhaps it has something to do with the major hormonal changes that occur at this time of year due to fawn birthing.

It may be, because they are about to drop any day now, never payed attention or noticed it till this year. Thanks for a little insight

 

[Ski]

For sure during the fall but never seen it in the spring/summer

I would guess it is as individual as humans are. Some simply have better hygiene than others? I'll take a look at my mineral site cam & see if any of my does are stained up right now. Never really paid attention to it but now I'm curious.

 

[backyardtndeer]

And normally white/ light brown outside of the rut, but they are stained as bad as November right now

Never seen them stained this time of the year. That is strange.

 

[knightrider]

 

[knightrider]

 

[Ski]

View attachment 138116

That there is a yearling doe who more than likely had her first estrous in late winter/early spring, just a matter of weeks ago. She could have been sexually active until quite recently.

The pic below is date accurate. That's a nearly full grown fawn with spots in April. A fawn loses spots in 3-4 months, and this fawn is about to lose its spots. 3-4mo before mid Apr. puts it being born somewhere in December. Given a 201 day(6.5mo) gestation its momma was bred in May or June, which would explain stained hocks in May. Weird stuff I know, but apparently it happens.

 

[knightrider]

That there is a yearling doe who more than likely had her first estrous in late winter/early spring, just a matter of weeks ago. She could have been sexually active until quite recently.

The pic below is date accurate. That's a nearly full grown fawn with spots in April. A fawn loses spots in 3-4 months, and this fawn is about to lose its spots. 3-4mo before mid Apr. puts it being born somewhere in December. Given a 201 day(6.5mo) gestation its momma was bred in May or June, which would explain stained hocks in May. Weird stuff I know, but apparently it happens.

The one standing in the pile same way along with several others i have had on cam, just something i had never noticed before now

 

[BSK]

It may be, because they are about to drop any day now, never payed attention or noticed it till this year. Thanks for a little insight

Honestly, I'm guessing. I don't run trail-cams in spring/summer, so I've never noticed it before.

Although I DO notice the number of dead does on the road right now. Happens every year at this time as doe social groups break up and less dominant does are forced to travel to find their own fawning territory.

 

[BSK]

That there is a yearling doe who more than likely had her first estrous in late winter/early spring, just a matter of weeks ago. She could have been sexually active until quite recently.

The pic below is date accurate. That's a nearly full grown fawn with spots in April. A fawn loses spots in 3-4 months, and this fawn is about to lose its spots. 3-4mo before mid Apr. puts it being born somewhere in December. Given a 201 day(6.5mo) gestation its momma was bred in May or June, which would explain stained hocks in May. Weird stuff I know, but apparently it happens.

In the Southeast, whitetails have been documented breeding almost every month of the year. In the tropics, where weather plays no role in fawn survival, whitetails literally have not rut peak. They breed all year round, with some bucks in velvet while others in hard antlers, and still others out of antler all at the same time.

 

[Ski]

In the Southeast, whitetails have been documented breeding almost every month of the year. In the tropics, where weather plays no role in fawn survival, whitetails literally have not rut peak. They breed all year round, with some bucks in velvet while others in hard antlers, and still others out of antler all at the same time.

That's bizarre. Having hunted most of my life up north, I'm used to rut/breeding timeline being pretty tight and predictable. This southern deer hunting has me relearning things I used to think were pretty set in stone static.

 

[BSK]

That's bizarre. Having hunted most of my life up north, I'm used to rut/breeding timeline being pretty tight and predictable. This southern deer hunting has me relearning things I used to think were pretty set in stone static.

They are "set in stone" up North because weather plays such a critical role in fawn survival. Born too early, and late spring snows will kill newborn fawns. Born too late and they won't reach the magic weigh requirement to live through their first winter. So Natural Selection has genetically timed breeding very tightly. In the Deep South, where weather rarely kills fawns, breeding can happen almost any time and the fawns still survive. Interestingly, in the Everglades of South Florida, high water kills newborn fawns, so the rut is timed (July-August) to produce newborns at the traditional driest time of the year in the swamps, mid-January to mid-March. In South TX, a near desert environment, the rut is timed so fawns are born just after the peak of tropical storm rains in June to take advantage of the flush of new plant growth.