The other night, I was heading home from work around midnight. The town streets were dark and quiet - no cars, no people.
Until I rounded a corner. On the street ahead, I saw them - three gangly adolescents standing in the middle of the street, long legs shifting as they jostled each other. I slowed, but they made no effort to move, just looked over their shoulders at me and continued their teenaged conference.
I wondered if I should honk the horn once, just to remind them I was there and needed through, but I didn't know how they would react. Would I give them a fright? Would they turn on me? There was no one else around to help me if I made the wrong choice.
As I pondered my next move, they gathered their collective wisdom and with a bit of shoving and bumbling, began to slowly move ahead. They proceeded through the stop sign and down the next street at an amble. I followed slowly so they wouldn't feel threatened, smiling at their awkward gait, those long limbs and tiny hoofs so deceptively frail-looking beneath white tails . . .
Yep, those were adolescent deer wandering through town in late evening. They're not just in peoples' back yards, they're everywhere.
And just like people, they travel in preferred groups, the older males together, the moms and babies born this year together, and the adolescents together. The last group always make me smile, they're so much like their human counterparts - unsure of what their goals are or how to get there, apt to stand around shuffling their feet, and slow to react to cars with the right-of-way.
I only wish I had a video, or even a photo, to share with you.
A meme will have to do instead.
I hope your week brings you some smiles too.
27 comments:
Smiling, and while your words let me picture it, how I wish I could see it for myself.
Coming home from work at that hour? Shudder.
The white tails were a great intro. Great post.
A little later, when they get serious about making baby deer, their behavior gets just as erratic. At least the teenagers aren't bouncing off of your rear quarter panel...
-Doug in Sugar Pine
Elephant's Child: Oh, I SO wish you could have seen it too! And I don't mind the late hour. I am a night owl :)
Marie: I'm glad you enjoyed it. They truly are like a bunch of 14-year-olds!
Doug: Yes, I am quite leery of the older males. There is a group of three to five that visit my back yard regularly, and I won't go off the deck when they're here.
Great visuals.
I worry about you being out so late at night. Deer are so beautiful and so dangerous.
Love,
Janie
One has to be careful of the critters. We have lots of them in the neighborhood too. I told one to get off the sidewalk tonight when I was out for my walk.
That's a nice one for the memory banks. They do sound like human teens from the way you describe them.
I thought you were writing about human teenagers until you mentioned tiny hoofs, because I've yet to meet a human teenager who doesn't have giant feet.
We have moved into their back yard, have we not?
That was a lovely segue into wild life. What a wonderful sight. There are advantages to being out late at night.
We often meet them biking (us not the deer) through the woods. Here the secret is to be noisy fro when you seet them Either it scares them off or not, but they won't turn aggressive on you. Fright does that, and moving into their territory, but this won't happen a long as we stay on the roads, which we do at night.
You painted a picture with your words, the transition from human to deer was fun!
oh dear you gave me fright !
i felt slight shiver in my bones while reading until you mentioned them lol
you must write a book lady you have guts :)
I was rolling my eyes at the cluelessness of teenagers until I realized you were talking about deer! LOL
Joanne: Thanks - I couldn't take a video, so I tried to make words do!
Janie: I'm very careful, and work is not far from my home. And my phone is at my fingertips :) Deer can be dangerous, true, although I find they normally would rather run away from people than toward them. In autumn I'm careful around the males; in spring I'm careful around the moms :)
Red: I hope your critter listened to you!
Mimi: I just wish I could have shared actual footage with everyone - it was so much like watching people teenagers!
River: Aha! You reacted just the way I hoped a reader would! And yes, human teenagers definitely don't have tiny feet :)
gz: So very, very true. I feel badly for them and all displaced critters. In the 35 years we have lived in our current home, we have watched the deer go from very flighty to very comfortable on the streets. They are basically growing up in town now as their former farmland is turned into streets.
jabblog: It was not the first time I've see the teen deer hanging around looking like teen people, but it was the first time in the middle of downtown. I SO wished I had a camera that could capture the scene at night!
Charlotte: Your parentheses comment made me chuckle!! Now I am picturing cycling deers :) Yes, I agree - I find they'd rather run away, except the males in fall and the mothers with fawns in early summer. I'm also careful going around blind corners, as they can be startled and run the wrong way!
baili: Well, I was safe in the car! Although a deer can - if running - go through a car window. That happens more in places where deer are trying to cross busy roads.
Steve: Hah! Just what I hoped people would think as they read it! Thank you, thank you very much, lol
Hahaha! Thanks for the chuckles. Love those big mule-deer ears. :-)
Diane: Glad to provide a smile, and yes to the big ears! We seem to have two distinct kinds of deer here, and while they all have big ears, one kind has absolutely HUGE ears, just like the ones in the meme.
Aren't you the sneaky one, jenny_o? Enjoyed your story and I hope all is well with you.
Mr. Shife: haha - glad you enjoyed. Things are improving here but it's been a struggle the last few months. Wishing you well, too.
Jenny that made me smile. I've no idea why your posts don't refresh on my list.
I find it hard to imagine "teenaged" deer and I'd love to get to see for myself how the different groups operate. I love that you have highlighted the humour in the way the youngsters get about. You have a great eye
I just came across this and read it out loud to the man. Very funny and relatable. “Tiny hoofs?!!”
They sounds kind of magical in your description.
Nice story, I thought you were describing people.
Hello jenny_o.
Oh, I wish I could see it for myself. Sounds adorable!
Cherie: I don't know why my posts don't update on your list either. Have you tried unsubscribing and then subscribing again? If that doesn't help, it's probably just a Blogger glitch, unfortunately.
kylie: I wish you could see them, too. I wish I could have recorded them but they are usually only out at night and my camera wouldn't work then anyway. They are so gangly, just like human teenagers can be. Long skinny legs and always looking around in a daze :) Not to say all teens are like that, but I've seen a good number that are :)
Onevikinggirl: Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
37paddington: Deer in general are kind of magical! The half-grown ones are funny as well :)
John M: Thank you - I was misleading on purpose, I confess :)
Mr. S: Thanks for dropping by and saying hi :)
Romance Reader: I wish so much I could have filmed it. Then everyone could see exactly why they reminded me of human teens :)
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