Bambi's mom

Rifle hunting season for deer began in Michigan Sunday. It was a warm day, good for hunters, bad for deer. Here are some fun facts, most from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources web site:

• The offices of Detroit automakers were officially closed Monday for the UAW-negotiated holiday euphemistically called Veterans Day.
• There are 2 million deer in Michigan, about 300,000 of them in the Upper Peninsula.
• There are 60,000 car-deer crashes each year in Michigan.
• Bucks shed their antlers every year and grow new ones. Older bucks tend to have bigger racks, but beyond that, it’s all about good nutrition.
• The state of Michigan has been regulating deer hunting since 1859.
• The 520 wolves in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are estimated to eat 15,000 deer each year. Hunters took about 52,000 deer from the U.P. in 2008. During a moderately severe winter, about 70,000 deer will die.

More:

• Conversation around the buck pole in The Detroit News.
• Flickr member Hard-Rain has wonderful photos of white-tailed bucks.