Oh Deer

We got up Sunday morning to see that a bunch of deer had bedded down for the night in our pine trees.

This was on the back of our property, down near the creek.

Back Yard

Our property really isn’t all that big, so they were fairly close to the house. The deer have been hanging around for most of the winter. It’s not as if we really live in the country (more the edge of suburbia), but I guess they found a niche.

My taking the picture caught the attention of one of them.

Taking Notice

You can see how that’s a fairly comfortable-looking location (at least if you are a deer). Also, I guess my standing on my deck didn’t bother them too much.

Are You Making Doe Eyes At Me?

[Click for much larger version.]

In addition to the pines overhead, there is a very nice bed of leaves underneath. Not only are there pine needles, but that’s the location I dump my leaves in the fall when I blow/rake them up. So it is extra comfy.

If you look carefully, you can see how the deer on the right pushed up some leaves as part of arranging its nest.

After the left, I went out and took a look there. There were very clear impressions left in the leaves, and I could even tell where shoulders and haunches had lain.

You can kind of see that in this picture.

Empty Nest

Somehow these sorts of pictures don’t bring out the obviousness of the impressions that is there in real life. Maybe it’s my lack of photography skills, or maybe there is something else going on (like you really need to see it in three dimensions). I have the same problem photographing faint trails in the woods—they are obvious to the naked eye but invisible in any pictures I take.