The birth of twins in spring to a West Virginia White-tailed deer …(Odocoileus virginianus) …mama is a pretty ordinary occurance. The birth of triplets, however, is a less common event… seemingly almost unheard of ( at least in my area.)
A few years ago I had the pleasure of watching triplet fawns grow up right in my back yard.
There was only one occasion when all three were out in full view at the same time- very early one morning.
I grabbed my camera – a low resolution 1 mp which I had at that time- and started snapping pictures. The light was very dim, but I managed to get several presentable shots as the three youngsters frolicked and played much like a litter of puppies.
While my husband and I watched breathlessly, two of them engaged in a boxing match.(The third one can be seen on the right of the picture.)
Then he/she joined his sisters/brothers for a rousing game of tag.
I can imagine the one in front saying, “You can’t catch me,!!…..nanner nanner !
In this shot there seems to be a battle of wills going on. Like …ummmm …I DARE YOU !!!
We got small glimpses of the family from time to time for the rest of that summer but never saw them all together again as a group.
We often wondered what became of them and tried hard not to imagine them as someones dinner.
It was a once in a lifetime experience.
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