Deer Me!

After hearing yet another triumphant report of Butterfly's deer encounters, Cuppa and I couldn't resist the trip into the city to meet the deer. That sounds funny, doesn't it? Go to the city to see the deer. Well, there's a big park on the fringes of the city. Somehow, the deer got there and, in doing so, found a safe haven from hunters. In the event, they have become pretty darn tame.

Nature has enabled them to blend into their surroundings pretty well, but Butterfly can spot them really well now. It took some practice because on her first visit to the park, she was simply taking pictures of the snowy boughs and such. After a while she saw the deer, but when she looked carefully at her photos, one was actually there, in her very first photo, being very still and blending in ever so well.

So it was that she spotted them first yesterday. We changed paths to be closer, but they were still somewhat distant as seen in the first photo (above — please note that I am keeping photos small for this post because I am posting so many — six — but they are all clickable — in fact, they're too small, and you almost need to click them). It didn't take them long, however, to start wandering down to visit us (see photo right) — just in case we were packing provender, you know. And we were: apples and lettuce.

So, as the photo indicates, Cuppa offered apples, and the beasts were pretty darn interested. They never took from her hand though — they're not that tame yet — although one did touch her hand a few times. So, Cuppa fed apples, and Butterfly fed lettuce, and I stood back and watched and took pictures. Mind you, Butterfly and Cuppa took pictures too, all sorts of them.

Soon, another little group joined the first two. In this photo (right), Butterfly leans forward to offer lettuce to one, but you can now see three more deer in the background.

 

 

Eventually, we counted nine of them. Nine! At least two were quite young. You can see one of the young ones very cutely nuzzling its mother (photo left). Well, I guess the deer on the other side looks youngish too.

 

 

I have thought of deer as gentle creatures, and, while I still think that, something of the primal wild remains in them. When I saw them up close, and they did get very close, I was surprised at both their size and strength. I could see the strength oozing out of their sleek but well-muscled bodies.

All in all, it was a fine way to spend a half hour, perhaps more, for time passed very quickly although it was a cold day, made all the colder because we were simply standing about and not walking. Butterfly was required back at work, and we had other errands to run, so we took our leave. But one deer, the most trusting and curious of the lot (photo above), followed us for a while before turning back.