Yesterday morning at about 7 am, I looked out our front window to see a lovely doe standing on our lawn about 20 feet from where I was watching. She looked directly at me when she noticed the movement behind the glass, and after staring for a few seconds, she arced her neck downward to go back to her search for acorns. Finding one, the doe lifted her head a couple of feet from the ground and chewed the morsel a tad less than daintily. She had no one to impress.
Behind her, I noticed a couple of large fawns haltingly walking through a little grove of oaks just beyond the grass. All of the deer walked with a pause between each stride, as if this space of time would allow them to wheel about and sprint into the woods if they perceived any alarm. And I believe it would. This "pause" gave the deer that halting appearance.
More and more deer came down from the hill to our front yard, totaling 15 or more. The acorns must be easier to forage from our short-cut lawn and weed-pulled dry areas than up in the leaf-littered forest floor, as there are many more oaks on the hill behind us.
The group was comprised of all does and fawns. The bucks are off alone in their bachelor bands. I have generously applied "Not Tonight Deer" to all of the plants and trees that I do not want the deer nibbling, a product made of emulsified rotten egg products. It works, I've used it for 20 years. Yet, even so, I watched carefully to see if they tried to taste my precious pine trees, the ones that will offer so much privacy from the road in five years or so. They avoided the trees and eventually all jumped easily over our 3 foot chain link fence. Even the small fawn that limped on her right front foot.
It was all such a diorama to watch and I felt gifted to be watching it all. Hmmmm...I hear the words "oysters on the half shell" and somehow it twists in my mind to voicing, "Blessings on the cloven hoof."
No comments:
Post a Comment