Deer Bambi, I Love You

Michael, “Deer, Bambi! Come quick, look!” were the words my wife Theresa whispered loudly with a sudden urgency. Pointing out the window I saw not more than 50 feet away not one, but two tiny fawns standing close beside a medium size doe. They shadowed her every move never straying more than a few feet from her while she enjoyed the tall grass meal. Then, as if on cue, one of them positioned himself under her milk bag and gave a quick, hard nudge to start the flow. His sibling followed suit and before you know it, they were both slurping down their meal forgoing any semblance of manners or modesty. They were hungry and she had what they wanted. It was so cute, and I was still trying to grasp the idea that this was happening in my back yard, on my property. I had to pinch myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming.

Not only did Bambi live on my property, but so did his twin sister and his mother. This was something very special, especially to big city born and bred people like me and my wife. That was almost a year ago, and we have been watching Bambi and his sister grow up. We have seen them lose their spots and change colors. Sometimes, especially just as it is getting dark, they will come and lick grain out of the bird feeders just fifteen feet from our back deck. The other day, I was out back walking around with my two grand-daughters, and Bambi popped out from behind a bush. He just stood there, frozen as curious about the two little girls he saw as they were about him. They all just stood stared at each other, giving perfect opportunity for me to snap off a few photos.