I was wrong. I'm surprised that I didn't hear growls, as my one cat growls at anybody approaching the house -- and he doesn't seem to know there's a difference between deer and humans. Or maybe he does, as he was a stray that lived in my yard for at least a full year before we took him in.
In any case, this deer was quite close to the front window at first, but moved away a bit by the time I got my camera, then made its way down the sidewalk:
Completely ignoring all of my plants (for now), he seemed quite intent.
Ah, that's right: acorns!
He moved to the edge of my yard where the acorns have been falling from my neighbor's oak for a couple of weeks at least.
Acorns are a major source of fall and winter food for the deer, so I'm glad to see there are plenty around this year -- keeps the deer from sampling my shrubs and trees. Well, to some extent.
This guy browsed for at least 15 minutes until I opened the door to get a better shot and he decided to move into the back yard.
Although I'm not a fan of the damage the deer often inflict on the garden, I do get excited when I get a chance to see them up-close like this.
As long as they're just eating acorns.
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What a handsome guy! I love the one where it looks like he's sticking his tongue out at you.
ReplyDeleteWhat great pictues. Folks around here call them slugs with legs because of the plant damage they do. I love seeing them, though.
ReplyDeleteYup! Nice looking landscape destroyers!
ReplyDeleteAwe!! That's amazing. We don't have deer here. We have an african cousin - steenbok. Small with short antlers. They are very shy and don't come near residential areas.
ReplyDeleteI curse deer on our roads and when they eat the tops off my periennels -- but then I find one standing, looking at me and I marvel at its long limbs and grace and their ability to bound over a fence.
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