Another strange phenomenom occurred on Saturday morning...and then again Sunday evening...
I went outside Saturday morning to bring in the trash cans from the street. As I turned around towards the house, there were three deer behind the other garden.
Just so happened to be that one of them was the same deer I saw a couple of weeks ago.
Not only did "Buck" follow me again, so did his sisters, "Doe" and "Whiney." (More on how we came to these names later.)
I managed to make it to the fence line again with all three. My wife, my mom, my in-laws were all witnesses to this incredible event. This time Jingles was kept in the house.
There were plenty of photo opportunities and everyone was in awe of what was going on.
The deer decided enough was enough and headed down towards the draw behind our house. I went back in the house and let the dog out. Little did I know, the deer had returned to the fenceline, and Jingles takes off after Buck and as the other two bolted in the opposite direction. scares them off.
I bring Jingles in. Thanks a lot again, Pal!
I go outside to where the other two deer were. They were standing next to the road. As soon as they saw me they moved towards me. Now, Doe (such a unique name for a deer, huh?) approaches me and wants me to pet it. Meanwhile Whiney is whimpering but comes towards me. Pam goes into the house to fetch a couple of carrots. They do not eat them from her hands. They are munching on the acorns.
My wife sits down and pets the deer.
My father-in-law comes out of the house. He stands in the gravel driveway with a glass of orange juice in his hand as the two deer move towards him. He downs his orange juice just before he begins petting the deer. He even let one of them taste the residuals of the juice in the glass. He pets both of them. He is ecstatic. He cannot believe what is going on.
Then, Sunday night just after sundown...
I was outside taking trash the trash out. As I come back inside and walks towards the dining room, my mother-in-law asks, "Did you ring the doorbell?"
"No. " I had a puzzled look as to why she would think I would ring the doorbell.
She looks at me as if I were playing a practical joke. "Is there another doorbell out back?"
"No. We have only one doorbell."
I tell her, "Maybe it is kids pulling pranks," because earlier in the day I saw some kids I have never seen before walking down the street past our house.
I, along with my brother-in-law, go outside to investigate. I have my Maglite with me. I hear voices. I stand in the middle of the road while shining my flashlight in the general direction of the voices. I cannot see anyone through the foggy mist slowly creeping in.
I decide to jump in the car to drive in the direction of the voices. I see know one and I turn around to return home.
As I get near our house, I spy one of the deer off to the right next to the road. I park the car in the driveway. I exit the vehicle with my Maglite and walk towards the deer. It is Buck.
Buck starts walking towards me as I call him over as if he were a horse.
Now, I have never fed Buck. I do not know why these deer are so curious and are so unafraid of humans. I have had brushing encounters with deer on my treks up to Mt. Whitney, but nothing like this. I thought my first encounter a couple of weeks ago would be my last thanks to Jingles. Such is not the case.
I go in the house to get everyone to see this...especially my brother-in-law and his daughter. I go back outside and I startled Buck somewhat but he stood firm and stayed while the family came outside. I told Papou to keep a hold of Jingles.
I thought that Buck would dart off into the misty darkness with all us, but he just nuzzled up to everyone while he got his fair share of petting. He seemed to be enjoying it. Buck came very close to entering the house! No, I don't think so, Big Fella. Not with Jingles in the house. Nope, wouldn't be prudent. What I didn't want was a deer running rampant in my house in shear terror because of a small kennel mutt chasing after it. Oh what could have been did not happen. Whew.
As we reflected on what happened this weekend with our wild, yet friendly guests, my wife and I agree, as well as the rest of the family...
We love it up here.
Now, if we can only coax some wild turkeys to come to the fenceline...
Bow at the ready.
