Deer Encounters

1995 to Present
When Trish and I first saw "Acres North", we were very interested but we had been looking for a place for a long time and knew better than show the owner anything more than mild interest. We told them we would consider it and get back to them (I was thinking we would make a low offer within the next few days). As soon as we got in the car we both said in unison "I want it". As we drove down the driveway we passed 3 browsing deer. None of them seems the least bit bothered by the car passing within 10 feet of them. That did it. An hour later the first round of papers were signed. Deer have been almost a daily part of our life since that day.

They are not pets. We never approach them, feed them or otherwise intervene in their lives (the one exception was Bambi). They are wild animals that we share forest with. Over the years we have become very familiar with several individuals. Walking from the house to the shop we very often pass within 20 feet of grazing deer with barely a glance from them. Every year a stand of fireweed comes up under the living room window. One old doe in particular loved fireweed enough that she would stand 3 feet from us and eat fireweed. So she became known as Fireweed Eater. One spring day in 2005 I was driving up the driveway when I came upon Fireweed Eater standing 7 feet to my left, rear legs spread wide, nursing 2 new fawns. I turned down the radio, opened the window all the way and watched for 5 minutes or so. They were a bit shaky in the legs but the suction end had no problem keeping hold of the milk source. Fireweed Eater kept an eye on me but otherwise showed no signs of being afraid as she licked and nudged them. We named the twins TweedleDum and TweedleDee. We saw them almost every day for many years. Spring of 2008 TweedleDum had twins (the Dumplings) and TweedleDee had DeeDee.

Fall 1999, about 9:30 pm
I was working on the shop (installing T1-11 siding on the lower west wall). I had lights set up to illuminate my work area. With my back to 40' of open grass bordered by dense woods, I suddenly got a strong feeling of being watched. I turned one of the lights around and saw several sets of eyes in the brush, which concerned me until I realized it was only deer. After finishing the panel, I was repositioning the lights for the next, swinging a light around, I saw 8 deer (3 doe & 5 yearlings) lined up in the open about 30' away, intently watching me. I said "evening ladies, welcome to my class on siding installation". Turning back to my work I continued a running dialog on everything I was doing with complete detailed explanation on why I was doing each step (as if I had one of my grandkids standing beside me). Climbing down the ladder after the last screw of the panel, I turned to see (in light reflected off the white siding) all 8 deer, now 8' from me, focused on my every action and word. I asked if there were any questions?, but the only response was a slight head nod from 2 doe. I announced that this would most likely be my last panel of the evening and continued the process, repeating the same actions and words as before. Climbing down after the last screw I turned to an open field and a scan with powerful light confirmed, not a deer in sight.

I assume that you (the reader) find this story only slightly interesting, maybe even trivial. But to me, it was one of the most powerful inter-species interactions I had experienced to date. I truly felt "connected" with them.

2012
In 2009 Trish started marking her "cat territory" with a "Pee Line" (another story). The deer stopped coming around as much and actually got skittish. But occasionally a deer would walk right up to the house and look in the window. We know it's someone we should know, but who? (Without regular contact it's hard to tell). When the cats died in 2011, we stopped maintaining the "pee line" and slowly the deer are becoming comfortable with being close again. All this summer (2012) a doe and her fawn have been hanging around. Each time I see them I talk to them. At first, they would get nervous and do the stiff-leg-walk into the woods. Lately they just look up to verify it's me then go back to grazing the lawn, munching on the ivy or pruning my "deer food" trees.

Did you ever wonder why the lower portion of some trees has a strange concave shape? We planted these to create a solid hedge along that section of property line. I forget the proper name for them so I just call them "deer food".

Late fall is breeding herd roundup time for the bucks. If I go out on the porch this time of year, around 11 pm, and stay long enough to get my night vision, I will most likely see 10 to 15 does in the yard browsing on the ivy. If I'm lucky I will catch sight of the buck. This young buck is most likely not the herd master. But he was the only buck I saw near the herd the other night.

Usually, the only thing I see of a buck is the trashed small trees he leaves in the wake of his antler polishing.

1st week of 2013
I was reminded of another thing I've noticed about the critters that hang around here. For over 2 weeks previous I had seen deer in the yard every afternoon and night. On Sunday I brought home Ouasha (25-month-old great-grand-daughter) and her mother Allie (grand-daughter #3) for a few days of getting to know each other. I was eagerly anticipating the moment when I would carry Ouasha out on the porch and introduce her to real live wild deer, close up and personal. But, alas, it was not to be. I passed them off to Leah (Grand-Daughter #1) on Thursday without us seeing any deer in 5 days. Every damn one of my deer deserted me in my time of need. Shortly after dropping off Ouasha and Allie I was standing on the porch watching 4 deer eat ivy within 15 feet of me.

Whether it be Bear, Deer, Coyote or even Rabbit, it seems that strangers have a very distinct impact on their willingness to show themselves. But the unnerving aspect is that these critters have the ability to detect strangers before they arrive and when they are in the house (even with no additional vehicles in the driveway). Several times I have seen the deer "get nervous" and walk off into the woods 10-15 minutes before PUD would show up to read the meter (they have their own gate key). In 13 years, I don't think anyone ever saw more than a fleeting glimpse of our cats, except Robby (Grand-Son) who spent enough time here on his almost yearly summer visits and Christy (Trish's sister) who I assume smelled like Trish. The cats always knew before they arrived that strangers would be around and would disappear till "company" was gone.

6/3/13
I had a visitor this afternoon. Obviously, he is one of our yearly crop that we see every day as they grow up. From the thickness of his budding rack, I'd guess he is quite old. No sign of injury, but he walked like an old man with aching joints. Very seldom do I see males after they are kicked out of the nest (except during the breeding season when caution is traded for nookie). He hung around (not eating, anxious) like he was waiting for something and kept looking at the house. When I went out on the porch and said "How you doing" he relaxed and locked eyes with me for a long few minutes before slowly walking off toward the creek. I got a strong sense of "goodbye".

6/27/13
Been seeing a lot of Raven and Coyote activity the last week or so. Then today I found this about 50 yds. below the house on my road along the creek. Lots of bear and coyote prints and scat surrounding the carcass. I believe this is the same fellow as in the above pictures. But it's hard to tell at this point. I sure hope it was a "natural" demise and not some idiot plinking at deer for fun (bow only hunting season does not start till 9/1).

6/9/13
One of "my" deer stopped by today to show off her newborn.

5/29/14
A 3-year-old showed me her newborn.

5/30/14
Her sister also wanted me to see what she made.

Bambi - 2001
A very small fawn (still in spots) showed up in the yard, but no sign of mom. She (Bambi) nibbled on almost everything she came across but did not seem to be eating very much. We debated long and hard about "if we should" and "how we could" help her. In the end we decided to let nature take its course. By fall she had lost her spots but instead of being almost as big as a mature doe, she was still almost as small as a new fawn. In late fall she disappeared and we assumed she became predator food. But in spring she returned, still short and skinny but alive and kicking. That summer she took to following me when I walked to the shop and back. Several times I would stop and hold out my hand and she would come forward and touch it with her nose. I tried hand feeding carrot, apple, plum and lettuce but she wanted none of it, just a sniff and then would walk off.

Several times Bambi and Dart played tag on the lawn. Both of them were young and full of play. Dart would crouch down and stalk her, then spring forward at her legs. She would leap into the air, prance away then charge back at Dart who would leap into the air and run away with Bambi on his tail. Dart would circle around and be chasing her. Back and forth they would go until they stopped and faced each other at about 10 feet. Dart would go into his crouch and it would start again. One time I saw them touch noses but that was the only actual contact I saw between them.

Bambi never did get any bigger and was rebuffed by the other deer if she approached them. Even the bucks in rut would not let her in the fall breeding herd. I think we finally figured out what the deal was. We believe she was taken from one of the Puget Sound Islands by a local and escaped or was released nearby. Note: I don't know if Island deer are technically a separate sub-species or not, but they sure look and act like it. The island deer are very small and very tame. On some of the islands they are never hunted and protected very aggressively.

Bambi hung around here for 3 or 4 years before disappearing for good. What I remember most about her was the "tricks" she would play on me. During that period, I would work late into the night up in the shop almost every night. One night I stepped out of the East shop door to take a leak against the bank. As I looked up into the pitch-black night, 2 large glowing eyes were looking back at me from about a foot away. I leapt back in mid-stream, tripped and fell on my butt. Scrambling to my feet I flipped on the outside light to see Bambi standing on the bank looking me in the eye and I'm positive she was laughing at me as I inspected my wet pant leg.

She never tired of her favorite trick and got me at least 10 times with it. The 100-yard walk from shop to house is partially covered by security lights. As I leave the shop a flood light comes on to light the parking area in front of the shop. At the edge of that zone of light a north facing pole flood comes on to illuminate the next section. Continuing on past the pole I walk into the dark before the South facing pole flood comes on. What Bambi would do is position herself in the middle of the driveway at exactly the point I would be when the 2nd pole light came on. So, as I'm walking into pitch black, the light comes on to reveal Bambi, with glowing eyes, standing right in front of me. Only once did I expect it and even then, it caused my heart to jump up into my throat. Twice she misjudged the distance (or maybe did it on purpose) and I bumped into her at exactly the same time the light came on. She would never move, just stand there "grinning" at me as I went around her, cursing, into the next dark section.