You stay right here!

"You stay right here!" is what momma deer said to this fawn, and the young one listened. The other day I scared away a fawn -- or at least the flash of it I actually saw seemed like a fawn -- when I threw a pile of weeds onto the compost pile. Then yesterday I saw a pair of fawns come through the yard with their mother, so I've been keeping an eye out for this next generation of Nature-supplied pruners.

This tyke was back near my compost pile, and luckily I noticed it before I bumbled back there again -- I didn't want to have to worry about scaring another fawn away, possibly separating it from its mother.

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I had just finished watering my potted bamboos and saw his (or her) little head sticking up above one of my brush piles:

I've had some experience with fawns in this part of my yard before. In 2009 I came upon a newborn that was partially hidden in almost the exact spot:

The newborn fawn from June 2009.

That fawn was less than 2 days old -- I know that because I've read that for the first 2 days fawns freeze when there's danger, and after the second day they run instead. I got within a few feet of this one and it didn't move a muscle.

In any case, it's obvious that this 2011 fawn is a bit older, as he was definitely not staying still:

He was a bit nervous at first and didn't take his eyes off of me for more than a moment. Ears either. Look at those ears!

After a little while he calmed down and I was able to quietly move closer.

He seemed to be getting ready to hunker down into his little bed again...

Then a chipmunk jumped right into the shot and startled me a bit. You can see its blurred image in the lower right of the above photo.

The fawn didn't notice or didn't care, and laid back down to wait for mom:

I was hoping to see her come around, as I was curious to see if this was one of the twins that I saw the day before, but I had somewhere to be so couldn't stay. I did look around a bit for another fawn, but didn't see anything. I couldn't do a thorough check though, since I didn't want to upset this little one.

I knew it was a good idea to leave the brush piles back there! It was totally for the fawns, and had absolutely nothing to do with being lazy about cleanup!

It's funny how excited I get about these young deer, and what lengths I'll go to to keep them comfortable in my yard. Once they get older I'll be cursing them and willing them to pass through without stopping or eating, but for now they're a welcome addition to my garden.

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