The Doe and her Young

I see deer almost every day, but quite often they catch me unaware. They appear in a flash, and there is barely time to glimpse them with my own eyes, much less take a picture. Yesterday, when I went for my afternoon walk in the pasture, I saw two deer in close succession near the southern boundary of my property. One turned east and bounded into the woods. The other turned west and disappeared in the thicket. And, no, I did not get a single picture. But I was glad to have seen them, and I told myself I should content myself with that.

But then, when I was returning home from my walk, a deer appeared in a spot between me and the barn, a place I needed to pass in order to go home. I waited for her to bound into the woods, as I expected she did not want a closer encounter, but she stood her ground and looked at me, almost defiantly. That's when I knew. Somebody else was in the thicket behind her. She was watching out for that somebody else. So I stood there for a while, and she stood there, too, and then I took a few steps forward.

And that's when the little one emerged.

The mother must have given the signal, for the escape into the woods was well timed.

That was a good mother, but it was also a well-disciplined, obedient child, I think. You can watch the entire sequence in the video below.

Deer are more intelligent than many think. They communicate with one another and coordinate their actions. I bet they know exactly who lives on this property. They probably even know about Bow.

They may never have seen him, just as I do not see most of the spiders that spin webs on my property. But just as I know there is a spider by the circumstantial evidence of the web it has spun, who on my property can fail to know that we have a chimp here, when they can plainly hear the vocalization.