Whitetail deer passing through the garden on a Saturday morning

I knew something had been in the garden. The edges of the vegetables showed evidence of nibbling. Some mysterious critter was eating my lettuce and brussel sprouts last year. My dad was always good at fixing things and finding solutions to problems. He helped me put a fence around my raised bed garden to give my veggies a chance to grow to harvest. And it worked! However, this year the hydrangea flowers seemed to be disappearing.

It was a cool morning with a slight break in the rain. August had turned out to feel a lot like spring. I was up early from the home repairs even though it was the weekend. As I filled my cup with water from the kitchen, a blur of motion caught the corner of my eye. I looked up. A brown body speckled with white was moving quietly along the dark soil.

Whitetail deer! A whitetail deer was climbing the bank outside the window! I moved upstairs to try to get a closer look at them. Something else was moving through the shadows of the trees. There were two! Three! A mom and two baby deer were making their way through town.

I grabbed my camera and very slowly opened the back door. They were at the top of the bank by this point, in the neighbors yard. The mother deer peered out at me among the maple leaves at the top of the bank. I held my breath, careful not to move too fast and make them bolt. Deer are very fast and very cautious. I stood watching them and time felt suspended as we stared at each other. Gradually the doe would relax and go back to grazing, but any hint of movement and her head would snap back up. Slowly, I brought the camera viewfinder to my eye and caught her staring at me.

I marveled at this incredible moment with wildlife. Gradually, the deer family started moving farther down the neighbors yard and become more hidden by the maple trees. One of the babies bounded back over to get another look at me. Then the three of them moved on and I went back inside, still captivated by this moment with nature.

My dad used to see deer early in the morning under the crab apple trees. They moved through quickly once the sun started coming up so I never got a chance to see them. I wouldn’t expect to see deer so close to a busy road, but it looks like they do come through town.

Later that week my newest tiny tomatoes disappeared….One plant grew tall above the fence, putting it back in reach of the deer.