Spring has turned to summer on Sonoma Mountain with mostly mild weather.

We'll start with an action sequence. The blacktail bucks are still weeks away from the rut, which can start as early as July.
In mid-June, their antlers are still fully in velvet, as seen in photos below. These bucks are doing what I assume is pre-rut sparring.
They don't engage with the velvet-covered antlers, but with front hooves, in what looks a bit like a slap fight.

Two still photos and a short video:

Here is one of the bucks in daylight to show the velvet antlers.

As noted previously, the upper mountain meadows are frequented primarily by bucks, mostly at night.
The wooded creek canyons are where we see most of the does and fawns, primarily in daylight.

No mountain lions were photographed this month, but bobcat sightings are frequent throughout the property.
Bobcat activity, and indications of a nearby den, continued at the Adobe Creek crossing in particular.

We were revisited by the big feral boar we named "Tusky boi" last year.  Both upper and lower tusks now protrude from his mouth.

Smaller animals -- skunks, opossums, squirrels, jays -- as well as coyotes were seen but nothing too noteworthy.

We've mentioned before a significant omission from our wild animal photographic census over these three years.
We have never photographed a jack rabbit or brush rabbit, even though these are commonly seen around the mountain and valleys.
Here, at last, is a photo of a jack rabbit (lepus californicus) taken with my phone camera as I arrived at the Lafferty Ranch parking area.

The controlled grazing on the upper mountain we discussed previously continued for one more day (May 27, 2026)
with what appeared to be 10-20 cattle, herded by a man in a 4-wheeler and a dog.
The temporary fence and water tank are still in place. We will continue to monitor impacts.

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