Who’s Hiding Here?

Its Bambi the friendly deer!
At first she was a surreptitious spy,
Camouflaging herself in this bush.
Gaping at me.
While I was sitting on a rock.
Minding bathing-birdy-business.
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But then she decided to come near,
Pussy-footing,
or should I say,
“deer-footing” closer.
I wonder why?
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When she got closest,
she starting chuffing at me.
Which was either warning or alarm,
or both?
You can see her chuffing.
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She came up close.
What a beauty!
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I wish she had come closer still,
So I could help her rid those ticks.
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I think she maybe wished I could.
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Poor beauty with such beasts.

98 thoughts on “Who’s Hiding Here?

  1. Nice shots and those deer ticks we have our deadly hope these are just your run of the mill blood sucking ticks which are plenty bad enough 🙁 I always worry about the wildlife I see them on my squirrel faces too 🙁

    1. I know. It’s only with the camera zoom lens that I have become so aware that animals watch us all the time, even when we are completely unaware. If I step outside the house and scan the valley for the hawks with my zoom, whenever I find them, too far away to photograph, they are always staring directly at me. Wild animals are so much smarter than we give them credit for! Cheers to you & thank you~

  2. “..and so they came
    on their slender legs
    and gazed upon me
    not unlike the way

    I go out to the dunes and look
    and look and look
    into the faces of the flowers;
    and then one of them leaned forward

    and nuzzled my hand, and what can my life
    bring to me that could exceed
    that brief moment?”

    An excerpt from “The Place I Want To Get Back To” by Mary Oliver

    1. Indescribably lovely and perfectly true. I find such happiness and tranquility among the wild things. I am off to read the entirety. Thoreau was right. And thank you Russel. You are a gentle soul~

  3. Oh..Deer (ok Dear), that is an awesome experience that wild deer get that close to you. I can understand she needed help getting rid of those ticks on her.

  4. I know we have deer nearby. I saw a young buck in the mist early spring in the neighbors back yard. We were both curious, but the lighting was such that I couldn’t get a good photo. Another time early in the morning about a year or more ago a mother deer and two fawn crossed the neighborhood hill road. I’m on the edge of suberbia and I do get to enjoy some wild life.

    I really liked the photos of your bathing birdies. I’ve got chickadees, finches, robins, cardinals, crows and crackles. Cheers and thanks for your visits.

    1. It is special isn’t it, being around and seeing the wild things. I wonder how many people realize this as we bulldoze for more development, and steal the homes of creatures like this sweet deer. Thank you Jules~

  5. A magic moment for someone special. I believe animals are very intuitive, she may have secretly wanted help, poor thing, but is wise to be weary. Not all who are in nature, love nature as you do. I just loved the excerpt Russell Boyle left for you above. Very touching and so apropos.

    1. Yes, Russel is an amazingly gifted poet and a gentle soul. Animals are so much more sentient then we give them credit for and they are magical too, for us when we are near them! Thank you for knowing this~

  6. Hi Cindy,
    The pics are wonderful and the doe is truly beautiful. Amazing she let you be that close, but then, animals are very instinctive on whom to trust. Wonder if the conservation department would like to see and know about the tick problem. Do you see them on other animals in the “holler”?
    Paul

    1. I see mostly very healthy animals with no parasites, and very few sick ones with ticks and mange. Coyotes sometimes get kicked out of the pack and essentially waste away, covered with ticks and mange. So sad. I have been so tempted to intervene. But then the packs kill a calf and the cows bellow in grief. Sometimes for days. This is not pretty. So I try to stay neutral. The deer though. I would have helped in a heartbeat. Do you know what just happened? I took a break and went outside and a coyote pup ambled by. It stopped and looked at me in surprise and then ran off. So cute! I snapped some shots but I bet they are blurred as I was surprised and so was he!
      The wild life is the life for me!

    1. You know what just happened?…..I just saw a coyote pup. Ambled right by. I was surprised and so was he and I doubt the pics were good. But he was CLOSE! Awesomeness~

    1. Poor thing. My son says you can judge the health of a animal by the presence of parasites. Oh, how I wanted to remove them for her. He says she can rub them off…..

  7. That beautiful beautiful face! Oh how breathtaking and what a gift to you, and what a gift your photos are to us! I am trying to ignore the ticks since I just got bitten by one – the wrong kind – and am on antibiotics to prevent Lyme! We have lots of deer here too and in spite of those nasty parasites, I love the deer “deerly.”

    1. Yes I loved her too. I have done battle with the ticks before and won! My son and I brought a lot into a car recently. They are dreadful things. But the deer, so dear! Once I swerved and crashed my car to avoid a deer. Glad I did. Glad you are on antibiotics. Lyme is a nasty foe. Cheers to you Dor~

      1. Oh no. I can understand your feelings then. It must be very hard. There are two bloggers here with Lymes, one fully recovered, another still in the throes of it. So hard. I am really sorry. Sending healing thoughts his way. Hugs to you~

    1. Thank you Fae. I think they are healthier in the Bay Area, due to lots of greenery and precipitation. We are in the midst of draught here. 108 degrees today. Poor deer~

  8. Hi there Cindy, lovely photo’s of the deer. I haven’t took enough notice of this before but haven’t they got really big ears, no wonder they can here predators creeping up on them, not to mention us! Smashing photo’s Cindy.

    1. I make a gazillion typos as I type way too fast, so no worries. Yes, their ears are remarkable! Evolution is no dumby is it? I too think they are beautiful animals. Thank you for your astute observations & cheers to you~

  9. Wow, a Bambi up close! What a sweet-looking creature. The eyes are magnificently big and beautiful, complete with lush lashes 🙂

    1. Halim,
      I’ve just been over at your blog. You have so many great posts! I didn’t receive notification of them in my reader. Grrrr! So glad you popped by so I could go over to your blog, and thank you for liking Bambi! She is lovely isn’t she? Cheers to you my friend~

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