Drove to the little town of Leakesville today; a hamlet situated on the banks of the Chickashaway River. At 1pm, driving down the main street out of town, the car ahead of me suddenly braked--so of course I followed suit.

I immediately saw the reason--a yearling deer followed by a fawn ran across the road. Living in deer country, the driver ahead of me knew to stay put for a minute, because deer travel in groups, and where's there's one or two, usually others follow. But these two were traveling by themselves.

Deer run like the wind; in two seconds they bounded out of the woods, barely seeming to touch earth as they crossed the road and dove into the woods on the other side of the road. No matter if they're a pest and eat up your garden and  landscaping plants. To see these creatures airborne, their leaps as delicate and beautiful as any Nijinsky ever made is a sight to see.

One thing bothered me. These deer looked scrawny and malnourished. Maybe the drought has affected acorn and other food sources. Yep, they can wreck your car, but I felt sorry for them anyway.

susil

Comments:

I hate hunting season.

comment by elderjane on Oct 11, 2008 7:03 AM ()

Jeri waht's really un-sportsmanlike is for hunters to use dogs in
deer hunting, and using bait to attract the deer.

reply by susil on Oct 11, 2008 9:09 AM ()

comment by marta on Oct 10, 2008 8:40 PM ()

marta; I get real nervous driving right before daylight and right after sunset when the deer come out to graze on the green grass on the verges
of the highway. But the biggest buck I ever saw ran across the road
in front of my car at noon one day..So no matter how careful a person
is, any time of the day they can be on the move, and BLAM!

reply by susil on Oct 11, 2008 9:14 AM ()

comment by troutbend on Oct 10, 2008 6:14 PM ()

Hi Laura; hope your deer are okay--though it seems some years more deer
get killed on the highway than by hunters.

reply by susil on Oct 11, 2008 9:05 AM ()

comment by larryb on Oct 10, 2008 5:41 PM ()

Hi Larry; Highway 57, the road to Leakesville can be dangerous to
drive--deer always dashing across the road. I've heard that in some
places though, deer have been scarce since Katrina.

reply by susil on Oct 11, 2008 9:01 AM ()

comment by tealstar on Oct 10, 2008 5:38 AM ()

They were here first--we're the "pests," oui?

reply by susil on Oct 10, 2008 11:25 AM ()