Sunday, May 25, 2008

Camera Critters Sunday..... A New Life

For Camera Critters Sunday I thought I'd bring you a picture of a White Tail Deer Fawn who was born in the flower bed just outside our sliding glass doors at our former lake house one Summer, as well as one of her mother, who was our White Tail friend.

Someday I will tell you my many stories from the 20+ years we owned the lake house, but for now I'd like to share this particular tale of the little fawn.

One Summer the kids & I were at the lake house for the duration of the hot months since the children were still small and didn't have dozens of activities to keep them at home yet. So, we'd usually pack up like The Beverly Hillbillys into the Suburban and head to the lake we called ours, in the Texas Hill Country. Since the children were still toddlers, we didn't yet let them bring friends. It was a huge place with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and an enormous great room with the kitchen in the center of it all. One entire side of the great room was plate glass windows, as well as half of another, like an L shape. There was one set of sliding glass doors at one end and another set of glass doors at the other end. Both entries had steps (or a stoop) leading down to the patio with flower beds lining the entire patio. We only ever used one of the entrances and the other was almost as if no one even knew that it was there. It was in the bed by this stoop that the doe decided to have her fawn.

We always had dozens of deer at the lake that came right up into the yard and we always kept lots of corn on hand for the kids and guests to feed them. They were also a great garbage disposal resource for things like watermelon rind, apple cores and the like. They were also handy to have around in case of snakes, because a White Tail deer will either kill the snake or tree them. We always had a plentiful supply of rattlesnakes, so I was comforted by the presence of the deer, spending a small fortune on deer corn in order to keep them there.

For around 4 or 5 years we had a semi-pet deer who knew us and came to see us every time we were there and the kids named her Mama Deer (yes, I know... not very original). We always knew which one she was because she had a clipped ear, as if it had been bitten off in a fight. But, she would come up to any of us and eat from our hands, which was a great source of glee for the kids. She was just precious and always so gentle around the babies. My children both still remember her vividly. This was back before Lyme's Disease and huge tick infestations and we had several great horned owls that lived on the property. They worked very hard at keeping pests and varmints trimmed back.

Anyway, fire ants had at last made their way into the Hill Country several years earlier so we were constantly battling them. Many times we would find newborn fawns already dead on the property, killed by fire ants. So, when this precious baby was born in the bed on the porch, we just knew it had to be Mama Deer's. She would have been the only one who trusted us enough to fawn by the porch. Sure enough, a couple of days later, we saw her with her fawn. I always thought she must have known that close to the house was a safe place away from the ants. The fawn never took to us the way Mama Deer did and soon just became another of the small herd on the property.

Then, one year we went to the lake and Mama Deer never came and we were all so sad (alright, I bawled like a baby because it just broke my heart), yet we were thankful that we'd had her stick around for so many years. We couldn't even tell which fawn was hers by that time, so it seemed almost as if we were closing the chapter to a book. I guess we were, really. The kids were growing up and life was moving on, but Mama Deer will live forever in our hearts.

14 comments:

i beati said...

I cried in the story Want to hear more !! Amazing how nature invades our hearts and the memories never fade!! sandy

Daryl said...

Aww... touching post, tender memories and wonderful photos ...

:-Daryl

abb said...

I never knew fire ants could kill a fawn!

Such a lovely time to remember - thanks for sharing.

krysta said...

i love that story

ratmammy said...

waagh! i loved your story!!! Mama deer.....

Misty DawnS said...

Oh my gosh - I have tears rolling down my cheeks. What a beautiful story, which you wrote so very well. Deer are my second favorite animal (second only to dogs), so this story had my full attention (and a bit of jealousy too *grin*) the whole way through.

Treasia Stepp said...

What a beautiful story Snooty and so well written. It brought tears to my eyes. It also brought back a flood of fawn memories for me as well.

Snooty Primadona said...

Sandy: That is too true. I tried to make the story a little happier, but I couldn't since I was bawling while I wrote it. I'm such a sap. Thanks for dropping by.

Daryl: Thanks. I practically had to tear the photo album apart getting the pics out, lol. It's been a while since they were put in.

Annie: We didn't either until we found the first dead fawn. I was so upset that I took in to town to the vet to have it autopsied. Yes, it cost a fortune but I'm that kind of sap. The vet told us it was fire ants.

Thanks Krysta.

ratmammy: Thank you for the compliment and for stopping by!

Misty: Me too. I'll never understand how anyone could shoot a deer unless they need the food really badly. I got to know deer so well at the lake.

Treasia: Thank you. I miss my deer and I miss the lake and the kids being little. Waaah!

Rhea said...

Great story. I love whitetail deer. I was born and grew up in the Texas Hill Country before moving to Austin for a while and now I'm north of Dallas. Where in the Hill Country was your lake house? I grew up in Kerrville.

Snooty Primadona said...

rhea: Our lake house was @ Lake Buchanan, the Little Midland area. Stay tuned for more details at a later date.

Daryl said...

Snooty, I thank you for the compliment .. my 'mop' was also in need of beautification ™ .. I am hoping that next time your daughter comes to NYC to visit her friend that you will come visit me .. I am officially adopting you as a Sister In Blogging and Friend! From what I know of you .. you also qualify for Sister In Shopping!

:-Daryl

That Janie Girl said...

Beautiful story. Last night, when we were at our friend's house in San Angelo, three deer were bedded up in their flowerbeds in the front yard.

That is crazy! They live in town!

Brave deer!

AppleDebbie said...

Awww... what a sweet story and touching photos. I got a little misty eyed reading about Mama Deer at the end of your post... (good thing I had a box of tissues nearby!)

brneyedgal967 said...

So sad when a chapter of life as you knew it comes to an end and you realize it, right then and there. And time marches on...

 

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