"Bless the beast and the children. For in this world they have no voice. They have no choice.”
As I stood on the deck in the frigid air after my morning walk today I gazed out into the woods as I always do. Though the temperature is a mere 9 degrees, I am properly layered and plenty warm. There is not a cloud in the sky and no breeze or wind and so I can really feel the warmth of the morning sun. And although I have heard no complaints from Missy, I don’t believe she should be out very long when it’s this cold, so I have sent her inside. Looking into the woods I see the same trio of deer that I have seen just about every day since last spring. Although I have truly seen deer in my backyard nearly every day for the past 20 years, I have kept track of these three specifically. It is a Mom with her 2 babies – who are getting older now, no longer babies really. I recall the day when one of them was born.
It was last spring and I was on my morning walk. As I walked through the enchanted forest – the section of my driveway that cuts through the woods – I spotted a baby deer lying in the leaves about 8 feet into the woods, just minutes old. The mama had temporarily left but was, undoubtedly, watching me and Missy from a safe distance as we passed on through. I have learned that new born deer, before the mom cleans them all up, have no scent. I’m sure the mom left so as not to draw notice to her and her new born fawn, from the dog. I kept on walking, not wanting to startle the baby or panic the mother and not wanting Missy to see her. True to form, my faithful companion/guard dog – whose eyesight isn’t all that great - remained clueless to the nearness of the brand new fawn and we successfully walked on past. On the walk back the fawn was gone.
As the baby grew and was able to string along with Mom, it was so neat to see her looking, of course, just like Bambi with all the spots that they eventually loose. The mama would walk across our yard with her baby close behind and followed also by another deer who appeared to be the older sister to the newborn. The legs on the fawn seemed to be way too long for her small body and it was as if she was walking on stilts.
Now, to be clear, there were - and are - more than these 3 deer, but I came to recognize this trio over the summer and autumn months and now, on into winter. Quite often I’d see them grazing in the field with other deer. At times it seemed as if the older deer were babysitting the younger ones and perhaps tolerating their antics. As I watched from my vantage point at the top the hill, looking down at them in the field, it was as if I was watching a Disney movie. Art really does imitate life. The babies were frolicking – hopping and skipping and literally running in circles around the other deer in juts and spurts. Deer are people too!
More than once I would come upon the deer, unexpectantly, surprising both the deer and myself. Often times, when this happened, the mama deer would stomp her front hoof once. I knew the deer would be off and running in a matter of seconds. I came to recognize that this stomping was a signal which served two purposes. Firstly, it was a warning to me to stop right there and that if I dare come any closer the deer would snort and spit at me. Secondly, it was a signal to her babies as if to say, “Ok, on the count of three – we run!” And sure enough off they would go, bounding across my backyard and into the woods jumping over stone walls and following their ancient, well traveled paths. Their white tails in the air, moving up and down, look as if they’re waving. Often times, in the early morning or in the faint light of late day – at twilight – they would blend right into the woods and would miss being seen altogether were it not for the white of their under tail.
And so as I recalled all these sightings of the deer over the past months and watched them now in the woods, standing on my deck, I couldn’t help but wonder; whose backyard is this anyway? Just then the deck lets out a huge “bang” as it so often does when the temperature is this low, and three heads pop up in the woods as the deer stand “at attention.” I know the answer and am grateful to the deer to be sharing their home with me, in which I am really a guest. Of course they didn’t have a choice, did they? And although good guests usually don’t go around cutting your trees down, I have, unwittingly, provided them with really nice shrubs in my front yard to eat. We have even bought deer food for them at the local Tractor Supply. It’s nice we can live in each other’s backyard. I look forward to seeing brand new frolicking fawns in the spring.
As I stood on the deck in the frigid air after my morning walk today I gazed out into the woods as I always do. Though the temperature is a mere 9 degrees, I am properly layered and plenty warm. There is not a cloud in the sky and no breeze or wind and so I can really feel the warmth of the morning sun. And although I have heard no complaints from Missy, I don’t believe she should be out very long when it’s this cold, so I have sent her inside. Looking into the woods I see the same trio of deer that I have seen just about every day since last spring. Although I have truly seen deer in my backyard nearly every day for the past 20 years, I have kept track of these three specifically. It is a Mom with her 2 babies – who are getting older now, no longer babies really. I recall the day when one of them was born.
It was last spring and I was on my morning walk. As I walked through the enchanted forest – the section of my driveway that cuts through the woods – I spotted a baby deer lying in the leaves about 8 feet into the woods, just minutes old. The mama had temporarily left but was, undoubtedly, watching me and Missy from a safe distance as we passed on through. I have learned that new born deer, before the mom cleans them all up, have no scent. I’m sure the mom left so as not to draw notice to her and her new born fawn, from the dog. I kept on walking, not wanting to startle the baby or panic the mother and not wanting Missy to see her. True to form, my faithful companion/guard dog – whose eyesight isn’t all that great - remained clueless to the nearness of the brand new fawn and we successfully walked on past. On the walk back the fawn was gone.
As the baby grew and was able to string along with Mom, it was so neat to see her looking, of course, just like Bambi with all the spots that they eventually loose. The mama would walk across our yard with her baby close behind and followed also by another deer who appeared to be the older sister to the newborn. The legs on the fawn seemed to be way too long for her small body and it was as if she was walking on stilts.
Now, to be clear, there were - and are - more than these 3 deer, but I came to recognize this trio over the summer and autumn months and now, on into winter. Quite often I’d see them grazing in the field with other deer. At times it seemed as if the older deer were babysitting the younger ones and perhaps tolerating their antics. As I watched from my vantage point at the top the hill, looking down at them in the field, it was as if I was watching a Disney movie. Art really does imitate life. The babies were frolicking – hopping and skipping and literally running in circles around the other deer in juts and spurts. Deer are people too!
More than once I would come upon the deer, unexpectantly, surprising both the deer and myself. Often times, when this happened, the mama deer would stomp her front hoof once. I knew the deer would be off and running in a matter of seconds. I came to recognize that this stomping was a signal which served two purposes. Firstly, it was a warning to me to stop right there and that if I dare come any closer the deer would snort and spit at me. Secondly, it was a signal to her babies as if to say, “Ok, on the count of three – we run!” And sure enough off they would go, bounding across my backyard and into the woods jumping over stone walls and following their ancient, well traveled paths. Their white tails in the air, moving up and down, look as if they’re waving. Often times, in the early morning or in the faint light of late day – at twilight – they would blend right into the woods and would miss being seen altogether were it not for the white of their under tail.
And so as I recalled all these sightings of the deer over the past months and watched them now in the woods, standing on my deck, I couldn’t help but wonder; whose backyard is this anyway? Just then the deck lets out a huge “bang” as it so often does when the temperature is this low, and three heads pop up in the woods as the deer stand “at attention.” I know the answer and am grateful to the deer to be sharing their home with me, in which I am really a guest. Of course they didn’t have a choice, did they? And although good guests usually don’t go around cutting your trees down, I have, unwittingly, provided them with really nice shrubs in my front yard to eat. We have even bought deer food for them at the local Tractor Supply. It’s nice we can live in each other’s backyard. I look forward to seeing brand new frolicking fawns in the spring.
