Head for the pond!
This doe acted furtive a few weeks ago, but stuck around, and then we started seeing tips of little ears in the tall grass. Today, when temperatures hit 95 degrees, she took her youngster to the pond and we got a full view! Mama has mule-deer-ish big ears, but a flagging whitetail-ish tail when running, and is much more shy than our mule deer “regulars”. Pods of both species visit us in the fall. Could she be a cross? This link may help answer that question: https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2012_heffelfinger_j001.pdf.