I saw a strange sight this week at Coteau Valley Farm. A beautiful doe deer was very cautiously approaching the house. I could tell she was acting extremely inquisitive, like she wanted something, or was looking for something. She was so lovely, with her orange-brown hair and large attentive ears and brown eyes. I was so pleased to see her and felt proud that she felt safe enough to come so close to the house. With each step she took, I became a little dumbstruck seeing her insistence to come closer and it began to seem odd and uncomfortable; how quickly we change opinions. Then a curious sight appeared: Mochi the cat, was fluffing up in a ball. I could tell he was spitting and angry and I could see Miso, his brother and partner in crime, in the tree getting ready to attack too. As the deer came closer and closer the cats became more agitated and seemed to be preparing to attack something in the field. I then realized that the something they were preparing to attack was none other than the doe. Mochi began approaching it and Miso swung and fell out of the tree ready to jump on the doe. Then they both began running at her and chased her into the field where she in turn started stomping and coming at them. The cats were not about to give up the fight, so I enlisted some help to put them away, because honestly, I was furious with them. The deer ran away in the commotion and the cats, well they received a stamped ticket to a very long time out in the shop; where they were left twitching their tails like mad and pacing back and forth in a huff. Once they were taken care of, I went back to trying to determine why the doe was so agitated. I took out my binoculars and began perusing the field looking for something. It took a few sweeps of the field and finally, I found a baby in the grass. I could see it scooting about on its stomach and not using its legs, it seemed strange, to move that way but I'd never observed a fawn before, so perhaps it was normal movements. Meanwhile, the binoculars became heavy, so I put the binoculars down to rest. I felt my wrists might snap off, that seems dramatic but they are heavy! Also, I had some real chores to accomplish inside my house. Later I was glancing out the window because I anticipated seeing the deer again. I saw the mamma was back in the yard. Having sufficiently rested from my binocular workout I began watching her again. Sadly, she again disappeared from sight, for some time. In that time I found the fawn again with the binoculars and it had moved quite a bit in the time I was gone. Then momma appeared again, surprisingly, she could not instantly find her baby and had to give some short calls and a little waiting. When she finally did find it, she approached it but did not seem content. She kept bleating and then I understood why, another little head popped up, she had two! Finding two fawns explained how the baby had moved so far earlier. I was mistaken. I had been looking at two different fawns in the field and it had not moved at all. Upon finding their momma, they both instantly began nursing, but the feast did not last long as momma was spooked and again ran away into the woods across the way. That time she did not come back. Since then I've seen her about a quarter of a mile away by the road grazing. Then I saw her early one morning about five a.m. I have not seen her, or the fawns since. I read that she can possibly leave them for up to twelve hours at a time. I wondered how bigger predators did not find them and eat the fawns as they lay helpless and unattended in the grass. It says they have no scent and are not detectable to predators. I hope momma deer and her baby fawns will be okay, the far off traffic is a big danger to her. She seems to like hanging out by the road and beyond the road there are some trees, where she probably finds a big part of her food. I doubt I will see her again, but she was really sweet. I also learned a little about the kitty boys, those naughty paws, they will stalk and chase anything. Back in the shop, their story ended a little differently. Those two rascals went to bed a few nights without their pie, crying, "Meow, meow, meow." I did, however, feed them, and after a day inside they were back to their regular antics. What is your opinion, was I too hard on my kitty boys, let me know.
Coteau des Prairies
South Dakota Hobby Farm
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