...The Deer

Mybe I should tell you a little bit about me…I live in the tiny town of Coarsegold, 22 miles from the southern entrance into Yosemite Natl. Park. I live with my husband Micheal, 2 dogs, Zoe, Maia…, and our 4 cats Patchie, Satori, CC and Huey Lewis & the News (mostly we call him Mr. Hue). In addition, a deer has adopted us......

I looked out the window one day and I saw Maia running up the length of fence that runs up the side of our property behind our house…at first I thought I was seeing double because Maia is a brindle Great Dane and running next to her on the other side of the wire fence was a doe almost exactly Maias size. They ran up and down, up and down…it’s about a 120 yard fence line and the were going about half way up each time…then the little doe would turn and flip her tail at Maia and do a little spin and then they’d run in the other direction. After about 10 minutes of this Maia was slowing down and the deer ran off. It had been hilarious to watch…they were playing!

That was 5 months ago and The Deer is still here. Our house is on a bit of land in a glen and quite a few wild things...deer, coyotes, bob-cats, skunks, raccoons, and every once in a while Mt. Lions go through here. There is a pond up the road and animals are drawn here. The Deer came almost every day…coming to the fence and looking in the yard for Maia to come play…I swear she made a little clucking sound one morning to get the dogs attention. I loved it…it was so fun to watch them. The way the doe flips her tail at Maia and twirls around I am positive she thinks Maia is a boy deer…not a buck of course, but a boy deer....

We did have a buck hanging out here for about a week...she didn't like him. One day I came home and they were both near the fence so I hissed and yelled...He ran off but she jumped into the yard!!.

Maia and I can be walking up from the little pond and if we come upon The Deer she'll stop whatever she's doing and trot our way. Maia isn't really 100% thrilled with this….Maia knows The Deer is a deer, and that The Deer is a wild animal…a danger, or something to prey, or who might be preying on us. So Maia is a little tense and more than eager to play the chase game with out the fence between.

And The Deer is coming around more and more….Sleeping by the front gate while I walk right by her to get into the yard….I thought she was going to follow me into my studio one day because she saw Maia come in……One night I was walking up to the house from my studio and the outside light didn’t come on and The Deer and Maia and Me just about bumped into each other.

I started worrying about what could happen if Maia and Zoe, who is a lovely little cow dog, all met up with no supervision around….my imagination went wild….

I decide to call the animal rehab place to see if they could come and take her somewhere to rehab to her back to wild, a much safer state…deer need to be afraid of domestic animals and people (people aren't all that trustworthy when it comes to Mother Nature and our wild friends)...or maybe a petting zoo...(yes, we can pet her) I'm worried about her getting mauled by the dogs or one of the dogs being severely hurt by those delicate looking hooves. They wouldn’t take her……she’s too old to rehab….geez she's just a year old…..they told me to do everything I can to scare her away…and if The Deer becomes a nuisance they will come and put her down....as in Kill her!

They warned me of the danger of allowing my 10 year old grandson to be around deer who seem tame but may strike with their hooves.

They told me to get a room deodorizer spray can and chase the deer while spraying (apparently some deer are afraid of the hissing sound, but not this one). The woman said to make a lot of noise, clanging things together, hissing myself, while using the spray. And I have grabbed my spray can, an old wind chime to clang and I run toward her hissing and clanging…making growling sounds. One day I ran through the yard chasing, hissing, clanging…only to realize that my new neighbors were staring at me with disbelief since they could only see a demented woman, me, looking much like some sort of wild thing myself and the Deer out of their range of vision. She did run off a little ways at first but she's figured out it's me....she likes me and darn it, I like her.

My husband has shot bird shot around her feet and she will run off but she doesn't seem to remember and comes back the next day. But at night if we hear the coyotes close by and the deer is inside the fence he let's her stay.

She hops over our fence with ease and usually to join me if I'm outside..I actually hide from her....it was raining here the other day…hard…bits of ice coming down…I hear Zoe growling so I look to see what’s up…The Deer is standing at the door with her nose pressed against the glass…so pitiful… What to do? What to do? She needs a herd…and it can’t be us.

to be continued...and yes, I'm obsessing about The Deer!