Every picture tells a story.

My early AM started off with a few Koala photos,where I ran into a young one riding on mums shoulders on a bush track. She was coming towards me down the centre of the track. I braked,she got into a dead tree and I took a few pics with the help of the head lights to one side. I thought that was a good start to the morning.Then continued to look for a Sambar.
Fog up high, but the mist down lower annoyed me but then the overcast conditions are almost perfect for deer hunting.
I missed this stag initially on my way in but on my return I spotted him and watched as he went to a stump (?) and rubbed his face and under side of neck for 20 minutes not offering a good pic opp.
Then the thought was "**** it,I`m gonna have a crack"....at getting closer for better photos.
Dropping under him out of sight I crossed the hill face not knowing exactly where tf he was. That was fraught with danger of being sprung. Thank **** the `roos were above him though and then I saw his movement,wtf he`s had enough rubbing and he's on his way towards me...aah ****,panic stations,tripod feet set right,camera set right,feet clear of sticks blah blah. ****, he`s in my face at 45 yards and believe me that is a real treat.
He poked and mooched picking a few additions to his heavily full paunch and heard the DSLR clicks and sort of looked up without being perturbed but with a double take then figured that the 'shape' wasn't quite right. He studied me for several minutes, saw my hands dialing settings etc and once his head came up I knew he was there for a short time ha ha.
I heard him woof from the other side a 100 or 200 away. Note that he has a three point top on one beam,thats as rare as cheap fuel.

 

[sh1kar]

Some neck
S

 

[John Gryphon]

Some neck
S

Yes true to the species a bit Tyson-ish. Tonights stag has an effen good one also. Will put up shortly,just sat down with a glass of pale ale.

 

[John Gryphon]

Some neck
S

@sh1kar

 

[Popeye1974]

fascinating to see species we wouldn't normally get to see, thanks.

 

[Mike1979]

Looks more like a bullock with antlers...hefty lump of a deer thats for sure

 

[John Gryphon]

fascinating to see species we wouldn't normally get to see, thanks.

Nice comment,thankyou. I get the buzz out of your CWD`s/Munts etc.

Looks more like a bullock with antlers...hefty lump of a deer thats for sure

Check his body bulk @Mike1979 ......back to the .358 NM is a better option than a weasel .243. lol.

 

[Mike1979]

Nice comment,thankyou. I get the buzz out of your CWD`s/Munts etc.

Check his body bulk @Mike1979 ......back to the .358 NM is a better option than a weasel .243. lol.

View attachment 438743

He's a big lad Stunning animals

I think the extraction of a CWD is much more appealing then trying to move the ones in your pics

 

[John Gryphon]

He's a big lad

And we have just come out of a prolonged drought where even the roos suffered from lack of feed.

 

[sh1kar]

Nice comment,thankyou. I get the buzz out of your CWD`s/Munts etc.

Check his body bulk @Mike1979 ......back to the .358 NM is a better option than a weasel .243. lol.

View attachment 438743

What's the bulge under his left eye?

TB?

 

[Loki]

Hi John

Great photos as usual - especially as ye were under 50yds!
If you can keep tabs on him until I get me visa..........I like 'wonky' ones

L

 

[John Gryphon]

What's the bulge under his left eye?

TB?

No not at all,I think that we have no TB here in the wild except for a case in a sea lion believe it or not in 2021.
None in our cattle though since eradication in 2002.

It (they) are pre orbital glands,something that they can inflate,generally when pi$$ed off or suss about anything.
An example below, a hind showing the waxy deposit in her inverted pre orbs. She`s a bit perturbed as she has a young calf and my dog is pointing it. From memory she`s only circa 4 yards from me....I`m the lesser danger and btw she is as wild as any.
I have seen a stag depositing the wax on a twig presumably as a scent marker, akin to some species of African antelope.
They play a part in their alarm call also as they inflate when the deer "bell"..which is colloquially known as a "honk" here.

 

[sh1kar]

No not at all,I think that we have no TB here in the wild except for a case in a sea lion believe it or not in 2021.
None in our cattle though since eradication in 2002.

It (they) are pre orbital glands,something that they can inflate,generally when pi$$ed off or suss about anything.
An example below, a hind showing the waxy deposit in her inverted pre orbs. She`s a bit perturbed as she has a young calf and my dog is pointing it. From memory she`s only circa 4 yards from me....I`m the lesser danger and btw she is as wild as any.
I have seen a stag depositing the wax on a twig presumably as a scent marker, akin to some species of African antelope.
They play a part in their alarm call also as they inflate when the deer "bell"..which is colloquially known as a "honk" here.

View attachment 438785

I did wonder about the gland - its just the other side isn't that size and looks more of a lump, maybe its slightly inflamed

Here is a lion with a TB Hygroma, thats what got me thinking





And your Sealion!

Discovery of sea lion with tuberculosis prompts call for more testing

An animal scientist wants more Australian sea lions tested for tuberculosis, after one of the creatures was found to have died from the disease on Kangaroo Island.

www.abc.net.au

 

[John Gryphon]

I did wonder about the gland

Could also be a swollen infected one,or a healed rip etc I wouldnt put him on the ground to find out though.

 

[sh1kar]

Could also be a swollen infected one,or a healed rip etc I wouldnt put him on the ground to find out though.

Indeed

 

[sh1kar]

Sounds disgusting but have you ever smelled the gland. I ask because when a springbok (the antelope!) is shot its caudal patch flares in death and rear glands smell of candy floss
Do you have that in Aus?

S

 

[John Gryphon]

Sounds disgusting but have you ever smelled the gland.

Being an old bicycle seat sniffer of course!
Seriously the scent if there is any is obvious to other deer but not to us humans. IF there is any for us to smell iirc I reckoned that I got a 'sweet almost vanilla"...almost that is on one or two occasions.
I have seen many times where deer including hinds have gone to a rub tree and sniffed carefully,not on the rubbed bark but other anointed branches. Presumably this is the wax.

 

[John Gryphon]

I should have been scraping over the years to paste onto a game camera site.

 

[John Gryphon]

Some neck
S

Found a proper neck for you S. He is a great stag.