Doe, a deer

Undertoad · 06-21-2013, 05:44 PM

Doe, a deer, a female deer just greeted me at my front door.

This never happens! But I'm maintaining my yard as a protected wetland -- protected because I'm too lazy to mow most of it, and wetland because of the septic failure.

By the time I got the phone out, she sprinted up the driveway and into the deep grass. The phone's camera couldn't zoom...

...so I went and got a digital camera with some zoom, and this is full zoom including optical:

Ah, it's not a great shot, just proof that she was there. And seconds later she bounded up the hill with great, powerful leaps and I couldn't find her again. She is massive!

limey · 06-21-2013, 06:01 PM

Coolio!

Sent by thought transference

ZenGum · 06-21-2013, 07:01 PM

I love your "yard". That doe was probably taken by a sasquatch a few minute later.

orthodoc · 06-21-2013, 09:52 PM

No, she's just enjoying the cover. And although a bowhunter would say she's delicious, I say she's enjoying your natural yard and will almost certainly return around dusk or dawn, and occasionally during the daylight hours if you're very quiet. Enjoy.

Sundae · 06-22-2013, 05:06 AM

Wow!
Gosh she's gorgeous.

And I'm all excited because we have a returning hedgehog!
(which I am feeding on walnuts and pecans bought to make cakes for the staffroom)

orthodoc · 06-22-2013, 06:36 AM

A hedgehog! Can you post some pics, Sundae?

Sundae · 06-22-2013, 01:34 PM

No.
I mean, I wish I could, but they are quite easily spooked, especially as we live in Cat Central, apparently.
By the time I got close enough for a flash to work I'd already be stressing out him/ her.

I'm just happy to have found something the catskins don't want to eat.
And trust me, with Diz, that's a tricky prospect. He eats bread, dried fruit, cake, biscuits, crisps - you name it. But not nuts. And not banana.

Just as an addendum to my previous post, I meant to contrast UT's wonderful experience with my lowly one. I think it's far more marvellous to have a doe in your garden than a hodgepig, but we get the wildlife we are given and celebrate it anyway, right?

orthodoc · 06-22-2013, 03:57 PM

I guess it depends on what you're used to - I'd be thrilled to see a hedgehog, since we don't have them. Whereas deer are plentiful in this area, and while I enjoy watching them, I wouldn't say they were more wonderful than other animals. I do agree with you ... celebrate 'em all!

Big Sarge · 06-22-2013, 08:14 PM

UT - she is a beaut. Throw out a little corn to keep her around. She'll be fine eating when bow season comes around. You can take her out and none of the neighbors will ever know

Undertoad · 06-22-2013, 08:24 PM

I only have bags of frozen corn, will that do?

Undertoad · 06-22-2013, 08:27 PM

I must add, the "green area that surrounds my place, previously known as a lawn" is also definitely home to two rabbit families, at least one immense vole, three different species of ants, a bird that makes an annoying ticking sound in the morning, several squirrels, and a skunk that I have never actually seen.

Big Sarge · 06-22-2013, 08:34 PM

I was joshing with you, but seriously a 50 lb bag of corn only costs $9.00 at the feed store or in the sporting goods section of Walmart. Throw out a couple of cups a day and she'll get used to being close to your house. I guarantee you will get some great photos. She probably has a fawn near by.

orthodoc · 06-23-2013, 02:01 AM

Ah, Sarge, you're a bowhunter. Just as I thought.

I always think of the perfect bowhunter's shot - having tracked or waited on a doe until she's calm, relaxed, takes a mouthful - she doesn't feel the arrow as it passes. Not then - she lifts her head, takes a tentative step, then darts forward in confusion, unaware of her lethal wound, and drops.

No stress hormones, nothing to taint the meat. I guess it's as good a death as any of us can aspire to.

Sundae · 06-23-2013, 04:10 AM

However well I die I don't expect anyone will be interested in my taint.

Undertoad · 06-23-2013, 08:57 AM

It's the tenderest cut of all the meats.

06-21-2013, 05:44 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Doe, a deer Doe, a deer, a female deer just greeted me at my front door. This never happens! But I'm maintaining my yard as a protected wetland -- protected because I'm too lazy to mow most of it, and wetland because of the septic failure. By the time I got the phone out, she sprinted up the driveway and into the deep grass. The phone's camera couldn't zoom... ...so I went and got a digital camera with some zoom, and this is full zoom including optical: Ah, it's not a great shot, just proof that she was there. And seconds later she bounded up the hill with great, powerful leaps and I couldn't find her again. She is massive!

06-21-2013, 06:01 PM	#2
limey Encroaching on your decrees Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: An island within the south-west coast of Scotland Posts: 7,016	Coolio! Sent by thought transference __________________ Living it up on the edge ... of civilisation, within the southwest coast of

06-21-2013, 07:01 PM	#3
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	I love your "yard". That doe was probably taken by a sasquatch a few minute later. __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

06-21-2013, 09:52 PM	#4
orthodoc Not Suspicious, Merely Canadian Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 3,774	No, she's just enjoying the cover. And although a bowhunter would say she's delicious, I say she's enjoying your natural yard and will almost certainly return around dusk or dawn, and occasionally during the daylight hours if you're very quiet. Enjoy. __________________ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

06-22-2013, 05:06 AM	#5
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Wow! Gosh she's gorgeous. And I'm all excited because we have a returning hedgehog! (which I am feeding on walnuts and pecans bought to make cakes for the staffroom) __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

06-22-2013, 06:36 AM	#6
orthodoc Not Suspicious, Merely Canadian Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 3,774	A hedgehog! Can you post some pics, Sundae? __________________ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

06-22-2013, 01:34 PM	#7
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	No. I mean, I wish I could, but they are quite easily spooked, especially as we live in Cat Central, apparently. By the time I got close enough for a flash to work I'd already be stressing out him/ her. I'm just happy to have found something the catskins don't want to eat. And trust me, with Diz, that's a tricky prospect. He eats bread, dried fruit, cake, biscuits, crisps - you name it. But not nuts. And not banana. Just as an addendum to my previous post, I meant to contrast UT's wonderful experience with my lowly one. I think it's far more marvellous to have a doe in your garden than a hodgepig, but we get the wildlife we are given and celebrate it anyway, right? __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

06-22-2013, 03:57 PM	#8
orthodoc Not Suspicious, Merely Canadian Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 3,774	I guess it depends on what you're used to - I'd be thrilled to see a hedgehog, since we don't have them. Whereas deer are plentiful in this area, and while I enjoy watching them, I wouldn't say they were more wonderful than other animals. I do agree with you ... celebrate 'em all! __________________ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

06-22-2013, 08:14 PM	#9
Big Sarge Werepandas - lurking in your shadows Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: In the Deep South Posts: 3,408	UT - she is a beaut. Throw out a little corn to keep her around. She'll be fine eating when bow season comes around. You can take her out and none of the neighbors will ever know __________________ Give a man a match, & he'll be warm for 20 seconds. But toss that man a white phosphorus grenade and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

06-22-2013, 08:24 PM	#10
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I only have bags of frozen corn, will that do?

06-22-2013, 08:27 PM	#11
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I must add, the "green area that surrounds my place, previously known as a lawn" is also definitely home to two rabbit families, at least one immense vole, three different species of ants, a bird that makes an annoying ticking sound in the morning, several squirrels, and a skunk that I have never actually seen.

06-22-2013, 08:34 PM	#12
Big Sarge Werepandas - lurking in your shadows Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: In the Deep South Posts: 3,408	I was joshing with you, but seriously a 50 lb bag of corn only costs $9.00 at the feed store or in the sporting goods section of Walmart. Throw out a couple of cups a day and she'll get used to being close to your house. I guarantee you will get some great photos. She probably has a fawn near by. __________________ Give a man a match, & he'll be warm for 20 seconds. But toss that man a white phosphorus grenade and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

06-23-2013, 02:01 AM	#13
orthodoc Not Suspicious, Merely Canadian Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 3,774	Ah, Sarge, you're a bowhunter. Just as I thought. I always think of the perfect bowhunter's shot - having tracked or waited on a doe until she's calm, relaxed, takes a mouthful - she doesn't feel the arrow as it passes. Not then - she lifts her head, takes a tentative step, then darts forward in confusion, unaware of her lethal wound, and drops. No stress hormones, nothing to taint the meat. I guess it's as good a death as any of us can aspire to. __________________ The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Ghandi

06-23-2013, 04:10 AM	#14
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	However well I die I don't expect anyone will be interested in my taint. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

06-23-2013, 08:57 AM	#15
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	It's the tenderest cut of all the meats.

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