Veteran naturalists, despite decades in the field, often encounter species or animal behavior that they had not observed in the past. Indeed, it is this expectation that keeps us interested and attentive, drawing us into natural ecosystems throughout the year.
This morning, while I was birding at the Columbia Audubon Sanctuary, I heard a noise behind me; turning to look, I discovered six young white-tailed deer, standing at attention. As I continued to make my way across a sunny hillside, the deer followed at a safe distance, stopping to browse when I stopped to scan the landscape with my binoculars. This pattern continued for a quarter mile or so before they seemed to lose interest and wandered into an adjacent meadow.
I suspect they were recently abandoned by their newly pregnant mothers and banded together for comfort. No doubt, I was a mere curiosity and, having spent their short lives in a nature sanctuary, free of hunters, they had no reason to fear an aging human. As for me, it was a humbling and emotional experience to be joined by these gentle creatures; too often despised for causing road accidents or damaging suburban foliage, deer are a "problem" because we humans killed off their natural predators and destroyed most of their natural habitat.
This morning, while I was birding at the Columbia Audubon Sanctuary, I heard a noise behind me; turning to look, I discovered six young white-tailed deer, standing at attention. As I continued to make my way across a sunny hillside, the deer followed at a safe distance, stopping to browse when I stopped to scan the landscape with my binoculars. This pattern continued for a quarter mile or so before they seemed to lose interest and wandered into an adjacent meadow.
I suspect they were recently abandoned by their newly pregnant mothers and banded together for comfort. No doubt, I was a mere curiosity and, having spent their short lives in a nature sanctuary, free of hunters, they had no reason to fear an aging human. As for me, it was a humbling and emotional experience to be joined by these gentle creatures; too often despised for causing road accidents or damaging suburban foliage, deer are a "problem" because we humans killed off their natural predators and destroyed most of their natural habitat.
