by Lisa Deaton, VDOF Area Forester
It’s Deer Time!
Last week I walked around a forested property to prepare a Stewardship Plan for a private landowner. It felt like I had entered the kingdom of deer. With new food sources ripening every day and the excitement of mating season, the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, are on the move. Many people are familiar with the sight of buck rubs on small trees and woody shrubs, but bucks will also lick low-hanging branches until there are no leaves left. 
They also scrape patches of soil to mark their territory with scent. 
Strawberry bush, Euonymos americanus, sometimes referred to as deer candy, is fruiting. It looks a little bit like someone has hung party decorations in the woods; but as brightly colored as it is, it can be easy to miss.
Persimmons, Diospyros virginiana, are ripe as well. You may notice that one persimmon tree is loaded with fruit, while others bear none. This is because persimmon trees are dioecious. That means there are female trees and male trees. 
I also encountered a flock of about 20 black vultures, Coragyps atratus, roosting in a large white oak tree near a creek. The noise of them taking flight caught me off guard and I was only able to catch a photo of these two buzzards. 
I went back a few days later to see if I could photograph the vultures roosting in the oak tree, but they were on the side of the highway consuming a deer carcass. It was deer time for them, too!
Field Notes 