A Visit to the Deer Ranch

Sometimes, we miss the ferry we were aiming for; on one such occasion, I took the girls to the Deer Ranch in St. Ignace. I have the privilege of being Mommy these summer days so can do impromptu field trips. In our area there are so many neat things to explore!

We bought a cup of carrots to feed the deer.










One of the bucks dominated the feeding time. Kaya noticed this and tried to make the distribution of carrots more fair. Jade was happy to feed the bossy begging buck.


He had the most impressive set of antlers of the bunch:




The girls were so cute! They thoroughly enjoyed it.



The buck tries to intercept a proffered carrot.








Kaya was kind enough to pause and smile for Mom. Jade was pretty focused on the deer.







Some of the deer seemed just as focused on the girls as they were interested in the deer.








Jade is captivated:








Gotta love an awesome "stick your face in a painting" opportunity!







My little dears!








There were three female fawns in the barn we got to meet:








This fawn approached and sweetly let us pet her.







She gave "kisses"! (she did try to eat Jade's curls at one point too.)
















Pretty, yes? The fawns were our favorite part of our visit.



Scratching an itch- impressive balance!



Some fawns at the ranch nurse, the three in the barn were bottle-fed. We got to be there during their feeding! Kaya was given the opportunity to give a fawn a bottle, but chose to watch instead.











So cute!




There is a nice gift shop also. The girls wanted a toy deer but we didn't get one; stuffed animals seem to multiply without my help. Has any other parent noticed this? (Later in the summer we visited the Detroit Zoo and they each picked a stuffed animal then, but that's another adventure!)

Heading home again by ferry:

Location:St. Ignace