Fred, a deer, a female deer

One afternoon earlier this month, Nita said to me, "Fred's in the backyard."

I looked out the window and so no one.

"Where?" I asked.

"Out there by the old garden." I looked again.

"All I see is a deer," I told her.

"Yes," she said. "That's Fred."

So we have seen Fred early in the morning and later in the evening, just about daily. She is a gorgeous doe, nearly red in color. Because she never went too far from the thicket which EG let grow back there, I suspected there was a fawn.

The other morning, EG brought my attention to the fawn, which was in the old garden, Fred nearby. The fawn had the long, awkward Bambi legs, the trademark white spots, and a huge white tail. We watched the two as the sun came up. Yesterday, the fawn was drinking out of a drainage ditch next to the garage, legs spread wide so he could reach the water, and this evening, Fred and the fawn were under the kitchen window, nibbling the young grass which we planted after the septic system was dug up.

Last night, Penny alerted on a particular part of the thicket, so I know where the baby is hidden, or at least suspect where. Next year, we will have a garden, which I will fence, as I don't ever want to discourage the deer from living here.