Saturday, May 01, 2021 (25 days before April’s full “Flower Moon” rises nearest to earth)
I felt these deer unblinkingly watch me raise a camera and point it to them. I also felt wonder that the deer seemed to be communicating, weren’t eager to turn and bolt. Well, there’s good old camera-truth that proves the photographer’s sense off, for both deer were focused elsewhere.
I love seeing wild deer roam over Eight Pines Ranch, or just hanging around grazing. My dogs warn that deer are passing through, usually a small herd that’s fun to see and not disturb. If I miss a passing, hoof images are appealing. Often on seeing me, deer will turn and move away, but sometimes they pause like these pictured.
Deer usually travel through Eight Pines in herds of anywhere from three or four, to ten or twelve. Groups are of one gender but for rutting season, or when there’s a baby buck still traveling with mom.
Every herd member is hyperalert to possible intrusions. Our local types, “mule deer”, have ears big and practical. Perhaps the pictured gals didn’t hurry from my camera, were relaxed enough to gaze elsewhere, because one of their companions was the designated watcher and poised to run.
When I first moved to Central Oregon, deer paraded almost-unendingly through my place. Their well-beaten trails host the now-fewer migrating deer. The animals are being displaced by rapidly-growing human populations. The local, formerly abundant, wild properties are becoming covered by new, very-densely situated, home and business structures.
Ever more and more, I relish deer-glimpses. In several short years the city will expand eastward, and new buildings will consume this neighborhood. Quickly, local deer crossings will become history.
Dear Friends: Contemporary history is a too-rapid process, we can watch change and predict impact. Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 