A Visitor

I was a cold morning. We had a hard frost, and there was a cold fog coming over Spook Hill. As I was walking out to my car, I saw a movement out behind the old maple tree near the barn. I stopped and saw a doe walking near the creek.

We don't see a lot of deer. There is fencing on one side of the yard, and the creek is about 4 feet below the bank. It is a natural barrier that hinders deer movement. Besides that, there isn't any significant browsing near us. Across the street behind the neighbor's is a large field. We see deer there on occasion.

To date, I've only seen deer in our yard three times. They've always been down by the creek. The first time was a doe, the second was a doe and fawn, and this time, another doe.

We see tracks in the winter. They will be behind the barn, moving through the yard as they browse. In the late winter, we see tracks up near the house, feeding on our holly bushes. Surprisingly, we've never had problems with deer eating our vegetables or flowers. In the winter, we leave old apples out for the deer to eat. When my niece and nephew come to visit in the winter, they've come with me to see if we have tracks and feed the deer.

It was a treat to see the deer. I'll look around to see if I can find tracks. Maybe we'll have a frequent visitor this fall!