Backyard Deer Have Returned

Just this past week since the snow really started melting, we've seen evidence (hoofprints in the mud & empty corn trays) that the deer have been overnight visitors in the backyard. Up until now, they haven't visited the backyard at all since all the snow started piling up at the end of December. Last night as we were finishing supper and just before it got completely dark, I was surprised to see a deer right outside the dining room window. As we watched, more of them wandered into the backyard until we had a total of 5 out there.
The weather was kind of crappy yesterday, so I never went outside to put more birdseed or corn in the trays. Fortunately, one of the trays was still pretty full and the deer were able to find enough to munch on to keep them in the backyard for almost a half hour.

There was another deer coming from the south and that's what these ones were watching for.

It looked to us like there were 2 adult does and 3 youngsters. This picture isn't very clear, but I think you can tell that the largest deer to the left is the doe and the two others with her are quite a bit smaller.

It was close to 7:00 and dark by the time I took these last 2 pictures. The deer hung around and nibbled on the highbush cranberries and did some more clean-up under the birdfeeders before finally departing for the night.

We did see a couple more in the backyard around 6:30 this morning, so it looks as though they may be going back to their spring and summer travel patterns. I know that it's definitely time to stock up on more corn, plus start thinking about a taller fence for the garden if these hungry critters decide to hang around again for the summer.