the return of the twin deer

one of the great things about living along a wilderness area is just that...wilderness. for me, it means big blue, my heron. it means snapping turtles in the spring spitting at you and laying eggs. it means the wonders of the different types of dragon flies that land on my hands and the horrors of the big behemoth writing spiders that have set up camp on my back deck. i have never fished in the pond, but others have, so i know there are indeed fish. and i also have the best of the best...pet deer.

in an amazing show of grace, last year we had a family of deer that visited us...an interesting family at that. only once did we see the whole family...a stag, the doe, and believe it or not, twin fawns. austin saw the whole family, but both of us frequently saw mother and daughters, as they returned twice a day to the backyard to graze and look for food.

my property joins with the beginning of the chickahominy swamp, and the area becomes a hunter's paradise in the fall. i know that they hunters cannot come within 300 yards of development, so i began putting out squirrel food and birdseed for the deer. i figured if i fed them, they would stay up at this end of the swamp. i realize, of course, that deer are overpopulated, etc. but i just couldn't see letting these particular beautiful creatures be slaughtered.

i have been thinking about those deer off and on for several days and this morning i went to the window in the kitchen and there they were. it was as if god had said "time to feed my creatures, ellen." so i went out to the shed and found what was left of last year's squirrel food, and then i hauled the huge sack of deer corn that i bought at walmart out to the shed. i discovered this cheap means of luring them a couple of months ago, and have been buying up the sacks for them. ironically, the hunters use it to lure the animals to their deaths. i am luring them to their lives.

so hopefully tonight they will have their first fall meal, one that will be consistent and last for the next 6 months. i stop feeding them in the spring, and they still come around occasionally. the real surprise is that the twins have come back. i figured they wouldn't. i knew i wouldn't see the mother doe, but she may have new babies by now and may return as well. we will see how nature takes its course, although i have altered the path quite a bit...