We didn’t see Mom or Baby on
Sunday, but when I arrived home from work on Monday Vickie told me, “Look out in the
woods by the tree line where two trees have fallen and make a “V” – the mother
put the baby there for the day. Every once in a while it will raise its head
and put its ears up, look around, and then lie back down.”
Vickie then told me that she’d
read that mother deer leave their fawns during the day so that predators won’t
be attracted to them – the fawns blend in well with their surroundings. She
also shared a number of other things she’d learned about mother and fawn
behavior.
That evening I looked out the
kitchen window and saw the two in our backyard – photos below. It was sweet to
look at them. Then the Mom left the fawn in the backyard and moved into our
side yard to graze. The fawn was running and walking around the backyard, as it
headed toward the tree line and the creek Vickie was worried that the mother
would lose it.
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I don't know if I ever told you, but my mother had a special affection for deer. (She didn't know how naughty they could be in the garden.) when ever we went for an overnight stay along Skyline Drive she would always say, "I hope we see a deer!" We would watch for them at all appropriate times and would occasionally spot one or two and maybe more if we were lucky. Our trip would be made. When she came to be with us the deer frequently ventured out under the apple tree which thrilled her. She loved deer I guess because her father, a hunter trapper, could never bring himself to shoot one. He was always called upon to put horses to death for illness or injury because he was an excellent marksman and knew exactly where to aim. (Interestingly, Jesse is an excellent marksman even when he was small at Y camp. The Marksmanship tab was an easy one for him!) But Will Osterhout could never pull the trigger on a deer.
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