The deer often look in our windows, checking out the strange two-legged creatures who live in a cage. Or maybe they are looking for apples.
We’ve been working hard on the bike trek— me writing and you reading. It’s time for a one post quicky, one long on cute photos and short on words.
I sometimes think that Peggy and I live in a zoo, but we are the ones in the cage (house) while the animals run around free. When we returned in June from our ten-week revisit of my 10,000 mile bike trip, a herd of deer had encamped around our house. They had taken over. There was even one sleeping on the doorstep to our sunroom! Who needs a dog?
Little Buck has decided we are part of his family and comes around everyday in between grazing. Here he is resting on the door mat of our sunroom. A giraffe sculpture is off to the left.
Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that Peggy and I live on five acres of land in southern Oregon. The Applegate River runs through the front of our property while a million acres of national forest land are out the backdoor. It’s no surprise that a number of wild animals and birds consider our property part of their territory. Foxes, coyotes, raccoons, bears, deer, and skunks wander through our yard at will. There have even been cougars and wolves spotted in the area. Bigfoot is rumored to hang out in the Red Butte Mountains you can see from our deck (grin).
The Red Butte Mountains as seen from our deck, front room and sunroom. They are 10 miles away in Northern California. Doesn’t this look like an ideal home for Big Foot?
Except for the skunk who wants to live under our house and the bear who is known to go a few rounds with our garbage can on occasion, they are all welcome. The skunk was particularly irksome when it got excited as the toilet flushed and decided to spray under the house. Then there was the time he got in a territorial battle with a raccoon in our back yard and let go. (I caught that one on my night camera.)
The bear earned a barrel of demerits when he tackled my heavy Weber Grill and tipped it over on our back porch. Our daughter, Tasha, was visiting at the time and sleeping in the bedroom next to the porch. “CURTIS!!!” she screamed. Did you hear her? I’m surprised she has been back. And we still haven’t convinced her to let the grandkids sleep outside.
The deer (along with a variety of birds including wild turkeys) are the most obvious day-time visitors. They camp out in the shade, receive regular lectures from Peggy about not eating her flowers, and try to wheedle apples out of us. Here are some shots we’ve taken in the last few weeks. Enjoy. I’ll be back with the bike trip in my next blog.
The moms have started bringing their kids by to introduce them.It is one of our favorite times of the year.
It almost seems like this doe is doing a curtsy. “Let me present my two babies.”
The fawns are so tiny at first.
This tyke has a long ways to go to grow into its legs.
“What are these two-legged creatures, Mom? I bet I can out run them.”
Mom has to work hard to get enough food to feed her babies, especially when she has twins. Here she is munching on white oak leaves in front of our house. Peggy struggles to find deer resistant plants. The deer is welcome to the leaves.
Five bucks hang out on our property. These include Big Buck seen here, a bigger buck, a forked horn, a spike and Little Buck.
He really is handsome, and seems to know it.
This forked horn’s antlers are still growing and in velvet. By September the antlers will lose their velvet and this fellow will be ready to pursue his lady-love, or, as he prefers, lady loves. The action around our place gets pretty hilarious.
Little Buck is too small to get in on the action. It isn’t that he won’t want to, but the bigger bucks will chase him away. Here he seems to be commenting on the unfairness of it all.
My last photo for the day. Little Buck looks cute in hopes of earning an apple.
