Ducks and Deer

My sleepy, prototypical, boring suburban backyard is suddenly an animal sanctuary.

Remember the duck? And how I thought it had abandoned it’s nest? The duck came back. So now I know that momma ducks, when they leave their nests for the day, cover their eggs in nest material and hide them from idiot suburban Dads that don’t possess knowledge of nature.

The duck came back. I spooked it. It flew to a far part of the yard and there were the eggs.

This week? The eggs hatched. For a moment, I saw little ducklings and egg shells. This evening, as of the writing of this Blog entry, the nest once again appears abandoned. Now I get to learn if momma ducks and baby ducks are able to waddle off and leave their nests within 24 hours.

What about deer you ask? This past weekend, out my window, I noticed a momma deer (I think you call it a “doe”) nosing one baby deer (known as a “fawn”) back into a clump of bushes and chasing another baby deer across the neighbors lawn. These were newborn fawns. I mean, barely standing and awkwardly walking and falling down type newborn.

Then, two mornings later, right along my fence line, I went outside enjoying my morning coffee and saw one of those fawns curled up in a little ball.

So amazing cute I wanted to pick it up and feed it a baby bottle full of milk. Good thing I didn’t. What my “nature friends” told me (and by “nature friends”, I don’t mean “nude friends”) …they told me it’s a good thing I didn’t go pick up that fawn because the momma deer was probably hiding nearby, watching, and would’ve charged me and thumped me. I could’ve used a day off work …but couldn’t afford a month off of work. So not knowing the severity of deer attacks, it was a good thing I left the fawn alone.

The next night …the fawn was under a pine tree in my neighbors yard.

I like deer. Or, that is to day, I used to like deer. Until Sunday night at 2 a.m.

Right outside my bedroom window, at 2 a.m. (did I mention it was late), I heard a rustling and heard my metal gate clinking. I woke up. Sat up. And was like, “is there someone coming into my backyard?” I heard some rustling right by my house and was like, “holy shit, there’s a dude, came in my backyard, and I think he’s going to try and open my downstairs window and break into my house.”

But then, I heard what sounded like someone chewing crisp lettuce very loudly and as my heart rate slowed and my freak-out subsided, I realized, “hey …I think a deer or skunk or something is eating the plants outside my window.”

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash. Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. Actually, I just kneeled at the head of my bed and looked out the window and in the moonlight, I saw a deer treating my hostas like a salad bar. I knocked quietly on the window (as not to wake my wife) and whispered, “shoo” but it didn’t phase this brazen hosta-eating deer.

I learned ducks have hand made nest covers. I learned fawns sleep wherever they lay down, sometimes right in the open. And deer love hostas for a late night snack.

Oh, and three weeks ago I saw a hawk almost pick up the aforementioned momma duck while it was wandering around. Not much to that story but was cool to see.

My yard is available for school field trips and nature photographers. Leave a comment and reserve a time.