Here you see part of a ladies-only pajama party that lasted at least two hours in steadily pouring rain yesterday morning.
These white-tailed deer are some of our “regulars”; they and others often sleep in that area of our field apparently because it faces southwest and gets warmth (on sunny days), has large open escape-ways, and it’s near the edge of protective woods.
Pajama parties provide deer the advantage of combining multiple eye, ear, and nose security systems. Their ears and noses reportedly stay turned-on in their sleep, and researchers report that they sometimes sleep with their eyes open. The deer seem to doze off only for several minutes, look around, maybe lick themselves or otherwise tend to a need for a few minutes, then doze again. They often place themselves facing in different directions, apparently to maximize surveillance.
It seems that cold and steady rain usually are not problems for white-tails. Thunderstorms and fierce winds may cause them to seek cover; but, otherwise, the deer around here don’t seem to pay much attention to the weather. They still wear their thick winter coats, on which the rain just beads up and streams off. Perhaps you can see the beading and streaming on these two when they finally arose to browse:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 29, 2024.)