The Visitor
Our little compound is fairly resistant to deer. It’s a combination of fences, vegetation, and location. We get occasional visitors, but little of our plant life is conducive to nibbling so off they go. But a little doe has taken up residence and seems oddly resistant to jumping a fence and getting away. She’ll just run to a corner and lay down or head off to the high grass in the back. It turns out there is lots of room on an acre of land for a deer to hide, especially when the owner favors the wild look and our grass is tall and she is small.
I have no idea why she finds our space so attractive. Maybe it feels like a refuge from the depredations of wild hogs and rutting bucks, and we have a few of those and it is the season. She seems young, so maybe she’s just looking for a safe space to gain a little wisdom. Although, this is probably overstating the case. It might simply be that there’s plenty of grass to eat, and nice places to sleep. And for all I know she goes out at night and comes back here in the daytime.
At any rate, I’ve decided to simply monitor her activity and quit trying to chase her off every chance I get. Although, I don’t really need or want a pet deer, it will probably cause both of us a lot less stress. I’m just going to hope that one day she finds the door and lets herself out to join the rest of the population in the shelter of the deep woods in the park and ranches next door. It’s where she belongs and I’m just going to have to hope that sooner or later nature will take its course.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale