I Spy Deer

A doe with three of the four fawns. The most beautiful deer is at the top right.

I Spy Deer
by Annette Bartlett-Golden

Often when I look out my studio window I spy a deer or two, sometimes accompanied by a fawn, visiting the flower garden. They come to drink from the tiny frog pond and nibble on the flowers. One of the fawns, a particularly beautiful one, was born in the woods just steps beyond our back gate. My husband spotted her there and gingerly stroked her silken back. The mother, munching delicacies in our back garden, dashed away with alarm, only to return again a short while later.

Newborn fawn in the woods next to our garden gate.

Another time at the same spot, I saw the gorgeous fawn and her sibling nursing from their mother. After dining on the hostas in the fenced back garden, the mother doe leapt over the back gate into the woods. Immediately, two small forms raced joyfully to her side and began eagerly nuzzling for milk. Amazed, I grabbed binoculars and watched entranced, delighted to witness this moment.

Looking out my studio window recently, I was startled to see six tawny creatures materialize at the edge of the flower garden. There were two does with four speckled children, one of them the gorgeous fawn. As the does paused here and there to graze, their fawns explored nearby, until a car pulled into the driveway and parked. Abruptly, with the young ones hugging their mother’s sides, the deer hurried away to the neighboring yard. I had never seen these deer all together before and it was only then that I realized there are at least two deer families with young children in the neighborhood.

The deer families, two does and four fawns, leaving for the neighboring yard..

For years I have dreamed of cultivating a glorious flower garden teeming with colorful blossoms, a diversity of foliage, and not a weed in sight.  Some years ago, I set about putting in the beginnings of what I hoped would be such a garden on the little hillside just beyond my studio window. Sadly, the current state of the garden is a much wilder and humbler version of my original vision. There have been many difficulties and the appetite of deer has taken a toll on the roses and nearly every other plant.  Still, as much as I enjoy the flowers, I also love watching the deer, especially the young ones and the gorgeous fawn. What an unexpected pleasure! And so I have come to terms with the flower garden and the deer.

A doe with two fawn in the flower garden outside my studio window.