TheBanyanTree: Deer Running Amok

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Ray and I and the grandsons were on our way from the library to the toy
store when we saw him.  It was a buck rubbing his antlers on a tree near the
off leash dog park.  Ray said he was trying to attract females.  I won’t
comment any further on that.  He was close enough to the road to be worth a
good look, so I pulled the car over and we all watched him for a while.
Ray, who happened to have his camera with him, got out of the car and took a
few pictures.  The boys were watching the buck’s every move.

We don’t see the bucks very often around here.  Usually we see just the
does.  And we got a warning, “Deer running amok,” was the headline in the
newspaper this week.  It’s their rut season and November is a particularly
dangerous month for deer/car collisions.

I find myself thinking of deer less like Bambi and more like a nuisance.  I
have my winter bird feeders out now.  I fill them with seed once a week and
before the birds have any time to actually eat the seed, the deer show up in
the middle of the night when the moonlight is filtered by clouds, and gorge
themselves on niger and sunflower seeds.  I can’t put out deer food anymore
in hopes they’ll leave the bird seed alone, because the St. Paul City
Council passed a law making it illegal to feed deer.

My little backyard comes alive just before the sun rises.  From my office
perch overlooking the yard, I see the squirrels advancing towards the suet
hanging on a tree that’s meant for the woodpeckers to keep them off my cedar
sided house.  I see the blue jays swooping towards the nut feeder that’s
really meant for the cardinals.  I see the silhouettes of the cardinals on
the feeder that’s meant for the miscellaneous category of birds.

And when I glance out the window again, there are two large does in my yard
nuzzling the niger feeders and almost sucking out the seeds.  I watch them
for a while, because I am still steeped in Bambi propaganda, then I go
downstairs, and wake up Saydi, our dog who is always on guard, and let her
outside.

Saydi thinks deer are big dogs and no matter how big the dog is, she’s not
afraid.  She goes off barking and the fur is up on her back as she races
after the deer.  But the deer’s reaction time is faster.  Their white tails
stand straight up as they effortlessly jump the fences of my neighbors.

The deer are running amok.  But I saved my bird seed at least for a few more
hours this time for the birds.  I’ve given up battling the squirrels.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
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http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, "I'm going to snow. If you have on
a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway."

* Maya Angelou