Oh, Deer.

Two nights ago Oslo and I walked down our dirt drive (a little less than a quarter of a mile long) and we met our neighbors on the street who were riding their bikes. They asked if we had just seen the deer jump from our property across the road and into the across-the-street neighbor's field. We hadn't.

You can probably sense where this one is going, right?

So, last night Oslo and I are making the same walk down the drive and about halfway to the street we heard rustling in the stand of pines next to the right of the drive. The sound was clearly made by an animal larger than the normal chipmunk or possum. My first thought, though it wasn't dark yet, please DEAR God do NOT be a skunk. Then all of a sudden a deer sprang up from the brush, which blankets the ground near the pines. The doe ran down the stand for about 30 feet, then cut in front of the drive and in front of us. She leaped through our field at top speed. At this point, Oslo and I had fallen out of shock. Oslo chased the deer through the field.

Then I panicked because I saw a three-way chase in my future. First the deer, then Oslo, then me. Fortunately, Oslo stopped at the field's edge and the deer ran into the woods behind our house.

I was really proud of my watch dog; A ferocious beast that he is. Had this episode occurred four months ago, I would have been delighted to watch the lovely white tail bound through the field. But now that I have a garden and a family to feed, the deer, much like the slugs, are my new sworn enemies.

The stand of pines that the deer had made a comfortable bed in abuts the large garden, which of course makes me nervous. When Oslo returned to my side after his chase, I patted him over and gave him kisses for a job well done.

Later, when I told Matt of our brush with nature, he was proud of Oslo for chasing the deer off our land for the garden's sake but warned that dogs should not "run" deer. I know that Oslo wouldn't do that, he is merely protecting our harvest. I felt good about that.

Today as we walked down the drive, I looked at the brush where the deer had been bedding yesterday as one can see it from the drive. There was no sign of the Big Bambi. "Way to go, Oslo," I thought to myself. But my celebratory thoughts were premature. Soon after I noticed tire tracks on the dirt that looked relatively fresh. I looked for another set of tracks to compare these to wondering if these tracks where the most recent to go up the drive or not. There was one other set but looked much older than the one's in question.

The reason these tracks were most important to me is because I had just driven home 20-30 minutes before and there was what looked like a fresh deer print over the newest tire tracks. The track was from a deer that had come from the field and had gone in the direction of the pines.

"That little (expletive) is back!" I said to myself. I watched Oslo as he walked towards the street watching to see if he was going to pick up a sent or not. Instead my astute guard dog was preoccupied with chasing and trying to eat a moth in flight.

We collected the mail and turned back towards the house. Just for kicks I said to Oslo, let's take the path through the pines that connects our driveway with the next one over. The deer track I'd seen was more or less near that path. We got halfway between our drive and the neighbor's when up popped the doe.

It didn't put Oslo nor I in a state of shock this time. Oslo was about 15 feet on the deer's tail. He chased it to the field and then watched her as she ran back towards the woods again. Proud of himself he came back to find me and I gave him another good pat down.

Now I am wondering just how courageous this deer is. Will she be back tomorrow?

I told Matt of this adventure and he told me that my deer scouting skills were good today and that I am ready for a rifle. Though I have my hunting license (a gift to Matt), I have always said that I wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to pull the trigger on an animal. Not to mention, sitting for hours sounds really boring. BUT if that damn thing eats out of my garden, trust me, I'll be ready for blood come November.

Annie get your gun! ...or at least we'll start off with some coyote urine to sprinkle around the garden.

Thanks for indulging in the deer tale today (does everyone get my play on words, or are they totally wasted??)
--Annie