Extreme Animal Encounters

I am safely back in Indiana. There was a lot of rain on the road from Indianapolis, but I am safe at home tonight and ready to add a story to the blog.

I reached my apartment complex around eleven tonight (Hoosier time). Driving through the apartment complex, down to my usual parking spot, I eyed a small group of deer in the grassy patch at the end of the pavement. A couple of the deer looked pretty young, so I wondered to myself if I could tiptoe out there in the rain and get a closer look at them.

Well, no sooner had I shut off my car engine than I heard an ominous "pop" in the road. When I looked I saw a small deer scrambling to its feet from the side of a pickup truck. The deer ran back across the road to my side of the street and disappeared as the driver of the truck got out to inspect the damage to his vehicle.

Concerned about the deer, I wandered over in the light rain to see if he (or she) was okay. I found the deer standing in the grassy patch beside the lot, crying (actually, he was making a sort of bleeting sound - never heard a deer cry up close before). The deer was young, in fact, it still had it's spots. I stopped, stood still, and watched the deer looking for signs of injury. The deer seemed upset and frightened, but was moving as if nothing was seriously wrong (I have no idea what I would have done if the deer was injured, but I guess that's beside the point).

After a few seconds the deer actually started to approach me. I never imagined a wild deer would start walking my way and bleeting for any reason, but the deer seemed to want help from anyone who could give it. At that moment, I guess I was the only help available.

I started talking to the deer in a calm, matter-of-fact tone of voice and told the deer that he could cross safely if he moved quickly when there were no car lights anywhere to be seen. I then saw the deer's mother across the road with the other young one and pointed her out saying, "Look, there's your mommy."

I started walking forward slowly, but that made the deer skiddish. Then a passing car caused him to sprint around the grass in an arc, but he was still afraid to cross the street. Once the car lights were gone, and the fawn saw mommy across the road, he took off and rejoined his family.

So, it was a really neat experience. I hope the deer truly is okay and doesn't decide people are nice and friendly in general. After all, hunting's awfully popular in this part of the country.

Lisa