White Deer of Ridgewood Ranch

This morning I got the urge to check out the White/ Fallow Deer on the Ridgewood Ranch which is just south of Willits, CA. The ranch is famous for having been the home of Sea Biscuit the famous racehorse. It's funny how a herd of white deer can sometimes be hard to spot. Some days when I have driven past the ranch I won't see a single one. Today I was rather lucky as they were fairly close to the road. I pulled off the edge of the road and watched and photographed them for about twenty minutes or so. It got pretty exciting for awhile when two of the smaller bucks began sparring. There was one nice buck with palmated antlers. They look pretty cool. I had a great time photographing them time, eventually they moved off over a ridge and I went on my way. Oh and BTW look for the moth on one of the bucks! God's light and love to all, chris Equipment used- Canon 7D,Canon 100-400 IS Camera setting- AV mode,ISO 400, F5.6 +1 EV

Reminds Me of the Serengetti

We have all seen the images of Ox Peckers sitting placidly on the backs of Cape Buffalo and the streaming lines of Wildebeasts as they migrate across the plains of the Serengetti. Today my very, very minature version of it took place when I stopped to photograph the Fallow or "White Deer" on my way to Ukiah for a doctors appointment. I saw two groups of Fallow Deer and in the first one there was a European Starling perched on the back of one of the deer as it was grazing. The second group was feeding in a meadow when suddenly they formed a long single file line and moved up and over the hill into another meadow. Not as grandiose as the Serengetti but it was still pretty cool to see.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Note: These deer were photographed on the Golden Rule Ranch which is the ranch that was the home to Sea Biscuit the famous race horse owned by Frank Howard. The deer were purchased by Howard from Randolf Hearst in San Simeon in 1949.