Fawn
There are White Tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, here in the garden in Virginia. We can see them in the shade of the trees at the bottom of the garden, near the stream. They are very wary:
They ankle their way across the grass and hide in the dappled shade. This male, with this year’s half-grown antlers, makes me smile, as I see how wonky his antlers are and how he sticks his tongue out:
His antlers will soon have developed into magnificent curvy candelabra.
Their poise and bearing makes them seem very noble and magical creatures. Their ears allow them to inhabit another world; a world of fear of predators:
As they move through we see a fawn. It must have been born in May or June. It’s probably only a month old. It still has its Bambi spots and unsteady gait:
People here think that there are too many White Tailed Deer. I think there are too few wolves.
I just need to see Thumper, the rabbit, and Flower, the skunk, now.
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