Mother and Fawn

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Deer are often taken for granted by most in jungles, while in reality a healthy deer population signifies a lush jungle and also brings about chances of spotting predators. Its quite lovely to watch them frolic around especially when there are little ones around. However, they live in constant state of alertness and are very observant of the slightest sound and smell in the jungle. While we were observing the spotted deer in Mudumalai, there was a slight commotion in the herd and this mother gave out a low cry, it didn't sound like a call of the presence of a predator as the others didn't seem alarmed or alert. The fawn was close to the mother observing in the direction of the herd. Sometimes deer call when they spot humans too, not sure if it was us or something else. Things settled down in a couple of minutes and the grazing continued without any further hindrance.

Nikon D7k, f/7.1, SS 1/30, ISO 2000,195mm (Nikon 70-300VR)