Deer in the Snow

Tracks in the snow across our pristine driveway this morning inspired this post. Our tracks were made by one of our resident rabbits but since it is the day before Thanksgiving, Christmas is on my mind. And, somehow that translates to deer in the snow for me.

So, I dug through my stack of animal images and found this wonderful vintage drawing of deer in the snow. This is also one of those times where that quirky 1923 aspect of American copyright law works in our favor. While the majority of his work remains under his copyright, this drawing is by Carl (Clemens Moritz) Rungius does not. With the talent that we see here, is it any wonder that Rungius is considered one of the leading American wildlife artists?

Rungius was born in Germany in 1869. A visit to the United States in 1894 to hunt and sketch led to his emigrating to the United States. Rungius spent his summers in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains hunting and sketching. He would then spend the winter months, at his New York home, to complete his paintings. He was 90 years old when he died.

This drawing of deer in the snow comes from a book about the deer of the western United States that was published in 1902. Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President, was one of the authors.

I love this piece.

A quiet mountain pass in Colorado, covered with snow. A family of blacktail deer walk among soaring snow-covered pine trees. The buck turns to face us as if making sure the observer doesn’t get too close. His rack is quite impressive – eight points. One game magazine mentioned that the black-tailed deer, along with mule deer, can be found in 75% of California’s wildlands. Apparently, black tail deer were somewhat common in Wyoming but are now most commonly found from California to Alaska (including British Columbia).