I’m certain from her actions that this young white-tailed deer was not aware of me while she was deciding whether to come fully out of the woods on Sunday (January 26). I was well hidden about 150 feet away and the wind was coming from behind her.
Thus, I wasn’t worried about her extraordinary sense of smell. (Research indicates that her nose has up to 297 million scent receptors, compared to a dog’s 220 million and our pitiful five million.) I also wasn’t too concerned about her seeing me if I remained still. Deer don’t have extraordinary eyesight during the day and they can’t focus well to the side with only one eye. However, I arguably was within her hearing range. Although white-tails don’t have extraordinary hearing, they are programmed to alert when hearing a sound that is not natural to their environments.
Thus, when my camera “clicked” in taking the first image here, she alerted and turned her widened eyes, flaring nostrils, and revolving ears all in my direction.:
I don’t think that she saw me as I took the second shot, but she heard it and, trusting her instincts, melted back into the woods. (Brooklin, Maine)