A young woman jogging by the Author - Encounter with a Tame Deer 2022
Encounter with a Tame Deer 2022
A Deer Licks its Lips by the Author
I have pulled off thirty ticks in the last ten days, which convinced me to take a walk on an asphalt path along the river today and keep from tromping through high grass. One of those little deer ticks could make me sick if I don’t get them all squished.
Last night I pulled a tick off my leg after waking up at three A.M. and then fell back asleep with the tick still firmly grasped between thumb and forefinger. It was still there when I woke up at seven. That made up my mind.
The trail is full of speeding bikes, some in pods of four or five that yell to each other like Army Rangers. That kind of bike riding doesn’t seem very relaxing.
A Kingfisher has ruffled his topknot diving into the thick muddy water. I can hear him making a noise like a tiny motorboat as he putters about. I suspect the minnows are concentrated in a few deep river pools. He is a tiny jumpy creature that never sits still for a portrait.
A Great Blue Heron by the Author
As I walk farther a Great Blue Heron crossing the river almost runs into me. I am so surprised it is hard to focus the camera. He honks several times and floats by. The guttural honks seem perfect for dinosaur brethren.
The herons fly up and down the river staking out spots to catch fish by stealth. This one seems to have lost his bearings.
I can hear a heron rookery in the woods. The young herons croak and growl constantly for food. The rookery is high in a tall tree and well concealed from photographers. It can be pinpointed by heron poop all over the tree.
A young woman jogs with her dog carrying its poop in a green bag because there are no trash cans. The dog, like my dog, knows to walk along the wall of the boardwalk to avoid bikes, which may be three across and traveling thirty miles an hour.
Right beyond the boardwalk, I see a doe. It is unusual to see a deer in the daylight. When I point my camera it looks up and moves toward me.
I say any corn? by the Author
It eventually gets so close I have to switch to a lower magnification. It is close enough I could reach out and give it some peanuts.
Close up of a doe by the Author.
I look around and notice that the backyards of two houses are about fifty feet off the trail. I suspect someone, perhaps at these houses, is feeding this deer. You probably noticed a blood-sucking deer fly around the left eye.
There are good reasons why feeding deer is a bad idea. Of course, the “tame” deer will walk right up to all humans, including hunters, as this deer demonstrates. A deer feeding site can attract predators.
Also, it lures deer to backyards where they graze on shrubs and young trees and eventually get “culled” as a nuisance. The deer wander suburban streets and get hit by cars as well. Bringing deer together can spread diseases, including tick-borne disease.
The doe slowly departs by the Author
I gave the doe instructions to depart, and she left reluctantly like an unhappy dog. In this specific location, the doe also needs to watch for packs of bicycles.
Heron in the River by the Author
I catch a moment to watch the heron wading in some riffles then turn for home. I keep track of my steps and did 10,000 this morning, more than usual. I have been up and down this trail many times and hope to see it again soon. So many people jog the trail with headphones or cycle by at high velocity and miss its subtle beauty.
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