Mighty Elvis

I can't think of a better way to introduce the Perry Park Wildlife blog to you, than to introduce you to Elvis.  Elvis is a very unique Mule Deer.  So named because he refuses to scrape the velvet from his antlers every year, our own "Velvet Elvis" stands apart from his fellow bucks.

Elvis Attributes:

• Make no mistake, Elvis is a wild animal!  We don't live on a deer farm or anything, like all of the other animals here, he found us
• Keeps the velvet on this antlers until they fall off in the Spring
• Will not fight or engage other bucks in any battles for females
• HUGE body, stubby legs
• He has what experts call, "Non-Typical" antlers that have an enormous base, and tines that sprout in crazy directions
• He seems to know me, and he follows me home on most Winter days!

In this picture (click it, for the full sized image),  you can see his crazy antlers!  You can also see that he's been busy... somehow, he's managed to snap off the tips of some of his antler tines.  It doesn't seem to bother him, though.

Elvis is NOT shy!  He knows immediately when I'm outside and he walks (sometimes he runs) right over so I can scratch his chin.  He can be a little creepy sometimes, staring at us through the window when he knows we're home!

His favorite trick is to follow me home when he sees my truck in the neighborhood.  Most of the time, I see him running alongside, but sometimes I miss him and I don't see him until he startles me at home when I get out of the truck!  There's nothing like glancing over your left shoulder to see full-grown Buck staring you down!  GAHH!

You can see in the videos below where, depending on where Elvis happens to be, sometimes he beats me home and I have to help move him out of the way so I can park my truck in the garage!

Honestly, I'd lay out a bed for him on cold nights, but once he runs over say "Hello," he's just as quick to rejoin his group in the woods and to say, "Goodbye!"