NATURE WINS!
A few years back, in Maryland, a doe deer gave birth to the little guy pictured here. Now, there is nothing new about that....critters have been doing this for a Melania. It is a little buck as, even at this age, you can see the spots on it's head where the antlers will eventually grow.
The different thing about this is that the fawn was lying against the base of a giant oak tree at the end of my driveway and only 20 feet from a fairly active two lane street. I could not believe my eyes as I was leaving the house and here he was in the corner of my eye.
I now had a dilemma! Should I leave the critter alone. All kinds of dogs wandered the area and cars speeding along in excess of 25 mph were just a leap away and where the devil was it's mother.
Of course the only sensible thing to do was to photograph it and then worry about the logistics of it's future health. Sorta like your golfing buddy having a heart attack on the 15Th hole......you gotta drag him three holes until your finish your round. "Hit the ball, drag Billy Bob." Get the picture first!
I knew that when deer are first born, they have absolutely no scent. Nature's protection. Predators couldn't find the little fella as long as he didn't move. Well, he would not move....in fact would not even he make eye contact with me or the camera. I called the vet just to be sure as to what to do. Leave him alone, his mother will care for him. Nature wins, leave it alone!
Sure enough the doe came to feed him at night and was never more than a hundred yards from his location. So for two days and nights, this guy worried me and, I would check on him every two hours just to make sure all was well. Like having your own kid!
After he got strong enough to run with his mother, off they went. I did get to see him grow up for his first year and watch the spots vanish as he romped through adolescence. Quite a fun experience.
A few years back, in Maryland, a doe deer gave birth to the little guy pictured here. Now, there is nothing new about that....critters have been doing this for a Melania. It is a little buck as, even at this age, you can see the spots on it's head where the antlers will eventually grow.
The different thing about this is that the fawn was lying against the base of a giant oak tree at the end of my driveway and only 20 feet from a fairly active two lane street. I could not believe my eyes as I was leaving the house and here he was in the corner of my eye.
I now had a dilemma! Should I leave the critter alone. All kinds of dogs wandered the area and cars speeding along in excess of 25 mph were just a leap away and where the devil was it's mother.
Of course the only sensible thing to do was to photograph it and then worry about the logistics of it's future health. Sorta like your golfing buddy having a heart attack on the 15Th hole......you gotta drag him three holes until your finish your round. "Hit the ball, drag Billy Bob." Get the picture first!
I knew that when deer are first born, they have absolutely no scent. Nature's protection. Predators couldn't find the little fella as long as he didn't move. Well, he would not move....in fact would not even he make eye contact with me or the camera. I called the vet just to be sure as to what to do. Leave him alone, his mother will care for him. Nature wins, leave it alone!
Sure enough the doe came to feed him at night and was never more than a hundred yards from his location. So for two days and nights, this guy worried me and, I would check on him every two hours just to make sure all was well. Like having your own kid!
After he got strong enough to run with his mother, off they went. I did get to see him grow up for his first year and watch the spots vanish as he romped through adolescence. Quite a fun experience.
What a fantastic photo! It's so hard to leave the babies be, even though logically Mama can take better care of them than we could.
ReplyDeleteYep, never should touch them.
ReplyDelete