Doe a Deer

Casa de Pajaro and the neighbors to the North host a deer family. There is a doe and her two bambinos. When I first arrived at the casa in June, the babies were very small, freckle-bottomed and less than two feet tall. Even the doe seems rather small to me. She is about the size of an Afgan hound. There are thickets where the deer are under cover all around Casa de Pajaro. They run to safety under the thicket when I approach.

The most remarkable thing thing happened when I arrived at Casa de Pajaro with my daughter who helped me make the move. The doe actively scoffed at my daughter when she unexpectedly came close to the fawns. The deer stompped and snorted and my daughter was shocked. We had always known deer to just run in the presence of humans. It is amazing what a mother will do to keep her children safe.

The fawns are much larger now, about double in size in three months and losing their spots. Their color is darkening as is the color of their mother. The light fawn color is now a dusky brown. These are more signs of the coming of fall. I wonder where the fawns will go and how long they will live here in the winter.