Home 8:00AM , 31 degrees, cloudy and wet.
We had a herd of eight whitetails moving south to north across the back hill. They were all about the same size and looked to be the same age. The individual in front may have been leading. It did seem a little more watchful. They were doing their typical grazing across the back hill except for one individual who was very curious about the big red plant pots – not the plants in them but about the pots themselves. He/she cautiously approached the one on the hill side with his head low, ready to jump away, while his siblings(?) moved nonchalantly around it. He then started towards the two at the top of stairs, but got spooked - did he see me at the window? He gave a start and with a couple of quick prances was back on the slope. The group continued grazing along the slope to the northern edge of the woods. The leader had paused here and let the group get back together. The slope is less steep there and there's less underbrush. One individual started to chase another at a fast walk keeping his head low, following close behind the other like he/she was trying to do a "do I know you?" sniff. It switched to another individual as it passed while the victims of the chase trotted in circles within the group. This turned into some leaping and hopping. Obvious play. I'm guess these were the juvies of the group. At least two of these individuals mock jousted with branches of shrubs, though neither had antlers. A sleeting/hail/snow mix started at about 9:30 and continued until mid afternoon.
