How about some deer stories?
Lately, I've been thinking about deer more than usual.
Took some nice photos of a few about a week ago...
Here, I'll post a link to them.
This one is the first. There are 3 more after it
if you feel like clicking on the "Next" link thingy
above each photo.
pbase.com
A couple of days ago, I met a fawn while hiking with my dog.
It was all alone in the forest.. sort of like Bambi.
Something must have happened to his/her mom because
the fawn was lurking around the forest alone.
You can always recognize these orphans at first glance.
They often hang around areas where there are people,
but they stay just far enough away that they can watch
without (usually) being seen...unless you have sharp eyes.
That's what this one was doing -- lurking among
the spruce trees near a picnic ground area.
It would stand where it could get a clear line of sight through
to the picnic tables, but if it thought you could see it,
then it moved behind a large tree and peeked out at you
from the other side.. first leaning one way
and then from the other side of the tree.
If you stand very still, that often makes the fawn curious
and it will bend its neck further out to try to see
what you're up to.
My dog understands this and remains very quiet and still
and we can often get a good look at the fawn.
After awhile, you can tell that the fawn is getting nervous
and will break cover and go trotting off into the forest..
They have a special gait for that.. sort of a high-stepping prance,
with head up and ears slanted a little back (listening),
and white tail raised up like a flag.
I think they don't like to race off as they are afraid
that will provoke a chase, but the prancing is sort of
mid-way between remaining cool and stealthy
and totally losing control and making a mad dash for safety.
Here at my farm, we see a lot of deer year round.
It's sort of like Deer Island here.. the Safety Zone for Deer.
They like to put on a big Scared Deer act when they see
me out for a walk, but they aren't really afraid at all.
They snort at me.. very loud...and then turn and run a
short distance..then turn and snort again.
I think they enjoy the rush of feeling that they're being chased.
But nope, it's just me and my dog walking along the path
on our twice-a-day rounds of the farm.
Sometimes my dog takes off and chases one for about 50 feet
and then turns and comes back grinning...
"There, we gave them a nice scare!"
Of course, the deer come back through the trees
and peer at us -- no doubt they're a little peeved
that we actually gave them something to be mildly afraid of for
all of about 5 seconds.
But you know they aren't really afraid at all.
They come right into the backyard..right behind the house
and eat brussel sprouts and broccoli and other things
right out of the garden less than 40 feet from the back porch.
They think they're being pretty crafty..sneaking around
at 5 or 6 in the morning... nipping off baby squashes.
Sometimes they can even become bolder.
Last winter, one of them started coming up to the bird feeder
which is right against the bedroom window
and was cleaning out the sunflower seeds before dawn.
I never saw it -- I suppose because it came while it was dark,
but the tracks to the feeder and the empty feeder
were a dead giveaway.
One morning, a couple of years back, I was out for my
early morning walk in autumn, and that brings me around
to a part of the farm where I can see my neighbour's house
across an open field.
There were 4 deer in her yard.. a buck and 3 does,
and they were taking turns walking up to the big sliding door
on the kitchen.. looking at themselves in the reflection
and then scampering away to stand together until one would
get enough courage to go back and take another look.
They would get within 2-3 feet each time before turning
and making a run for it. Pretty funny.
Unfortunately, my neighbours missed all of this as they
were still asleep.
One last deer story.. not such a happy ending, but it is interesting..
I may even have told this story before...(can't remember).
A few years ago, a fawn started spending time with the
herd of cattle that used to be pastured in the field
across the highway from my place.
It would stay in the forest during the day, then hop the fence
and spend the night with the cattle.
Sometimes, when the herd was close to the fence, it would sneak out
and graze with them.
That fawn grew up to be a big buck and lived on the back
of my farm for a few years. He was like that fawn I saw
a couple of days ago.. curious and would lurk around in
the trees behind my house, or watch from the edges of
the woods along the fields when I was in the yard.
One day, I was working back in the field, trimming a new walking trail.
My dog, a big Lassie-type collie, was lying beside me
while I worked.
All of a sudden, she started nudging my elbow from behind..
I ignored her and snipped away at a tree that I was kneeling down to work on.
She poked me even harder, so I turned to look at her.
She stared at me then turned her head behind me.
I started to turn, but just then, there was a big blast of wet vapour
and a trumpeting sound... as I looked up to see a huge buck
with a rather formidable set of antlers, bent down with
his head about a yard away from us.. snorting and staring.
He froze for a second...well.. all three of us froze..
and then he spun and dashed off..big leaps over the tall grass.
My dog gave me a disgusted look and marched off,
heading straight home.. refused to even turn her head
to look as I called her to come back.
She'd had one good scare for the day and wasn't interested
in having another, so I had to spend the rest of the
day working alone -- with the buck peering at me from
the edge of the woods.
Unfortunately, that buck came to a bad end.
He must have wandered off of our farm and someone shot him.
We found him back in our fields.. lots of knocked down grass
in several spots along the game trail that runs back
out of my farm.. so he probably fell several times on the way home.
He was huge.. and healthy.. with a big set of antlers.
We left him back out in the field for the coyote of which
we have a large pack that loops through our farm,
but my neighbour sawed away his antlers.
She kept one and I have the other here in my office...
A little of the wilderness indoors next to the
paper wasp nest, the dry bittersweet vine, the rocks
and the driftwood...
croc |
