Oh deer...a change in tune

After the deer ravaged my gorgeous hanging baskets of impatiens last year, I seriously thought about serving venison for Thanksgiving. I know some of my friends and family were appalled at the thought and some (few) applauded my campaign to shoot every deer that came near our lovingly tended plants and flowers. I heard it all – "they were here first;" "they're God's creatures;" "it's the order of life;" blah, blah, blah. OK, so we took some of this in and compromised – only planted things that were labeled "not preferred by deer," spent a small fortune on smelly repellents, even left a portable radio playing on our front steps. Phil has sprayed, sprinkled, meshed, and fenced. So, we live and let live, but I still just tolerated these creatures of God – until….

One lovely day this past spring, Phil opened the front door when a deer dashed passed him on her way into the woods. This was not unusual, but when he looked further, he saw two tiny deer on very wobbly legs-- in the mulch along our driveway. He must have spooked mama deer and so she left the babies where they were. We couldn't believe our eyes. They could only have been hours old. Just like the Bambi movie – spots and all! We were so excited to see these newborns, totally forgetting that they will eventually turn into shrub-eating beasts. Phil was so enchanted by these little ones; he gave them names – Bam and Bee. Now we wondered if mama deer would come back for her babies after being spooked by Phil. We waited for hours, checking in on the babies from a distance every so often, but no mama. We were worried. Phil called our county's Animal Control Department. They assured him that mama would come back this evening. We should keep our distance from the babies, so she wouldn't be turned off or spooked again. Well, mama did come back and now they live in and around our yard. We see them all the time and have become quite fond of them – believe it!!

Bam and Bee

Waiting for Mama

Big ears!

Mama and babes

So you think I'm now a deer lover, well I still had a few reservations until….

Last week in a rain storm I watched our mama deer just sitting on our neighbor's front lawn, hardly moving in the pouring rain. How could this be? I never see deer in the rain. I had always assumed they were lying low somewhere in the woods -- but not our mama. She just sat there in the rain for a very long time. I showered, straightened out the house, put a load of clothes in the dryer and looked out again – she was still there – not moving. It stopped raining. Another hour goes by. Now I'm worried – she has a broken leg or worse. She's going to die right there on my neighbor's lawn. OK, don't panic. Wait a little while longer before you call Animal Control. I take another look out the window (I'm obsessed with this). Now I see one little Bam or Bee coming out from the woods. She spots her mama where she sits and goes prancing happily over to her just like a puppy. She gets under mama's belly and starts to feed. Then along comes the other little one – same thing. After playing and nibbling on my neighbor's grass for a while, all three are off to who-knows-where. Tears came to me eyes. Mama wasn't sick or injured. Just doing what a mama does – waiting for her kids to come home.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyMqN2IK4e0