Deer Shenanigans

I love this springtime ritual of deer - and on occasion, elk - crossing my lot from one section of forest to the next.

The girls are entertained, too.

They never bark. In fact, unless the deer startle and run, the girls will often just watch them without moving.

If the deer do start running, the girls might - if they're not too tired or hot - get up and rush to the north side of the yard for a better view.

This series of photos started yesterday evening (first two), with the balance taken today. Yesterday, the entire herd decided to go back to the stream and gully behind them rather than cross, maybe because it was already evening. This morning, they came back up to re-evaluate (third photo). In the fourth photo, the girls are nonchalantly going about their routine while the deer decide whether to retreat or cross my lot (you can barely see them in the background). There's no consensus; some deer retreat to the stream, while a couple brave the run across the lot, which of course got the girls' attention enough to at least get up and go to the north end of the yard (seventh photo), but as the last photo shows, Maia was more interested in smelling the ground than watching the running deer.