Deer and the Weather

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job 26:14

One day I noticed rather large snowflakes descending in my backyard. I mean, huge sized-snowflakes, the kind I can hear when they land on my hat or jacket. Then I observed some deer bedded down underneath the shelter of a large ponderosa pine. Although the snowfall that day caught me a little by surprise, apparently the deer anticipated the change in weather long before it occurred.

Lots of weather factors can affect animal movement in the wild. Larger animals like deer will often lie down in strong winds, especially if the temperature is cold. This helps to conserve body heat from being stripped away by the gusty air moving around them. Barometric pressure also seems to play an important role for these animals as to when to bed down or be up and about. Deer often move and feed either right before or after a storm, (dropping or rising barometer), and bed down in the midst of drastic weather changes.

From my own observations, deer seem to be more at ease in areas of either calm winds or breezes coming in from one direction. Swirling, gusty winds seem to cause a lot more uneasiness among both individuals and groups.

The five deer in the above photo didn’t appear to be too stressed about anything as the large snowflakes fell softly around them. They just waited until the snowfall stopped, then got up and wandered off into the brush.

I really like the above Scripture. For as much (or little!) as I know about life or the outdoors, it truly is the mere edges of His ways. From the insight I’ve gained into the natural world around, I’d say it is only man discovering what God has already put there.

What an amazing God. Hope you have a great day.