A Deer & Her Fawn.
I arrived early, just as the sun appeared above the horizon. Brightened by our adjacent star, the fauna and flora seemed ablaze in the morning light. This wildlife encounter occurred at Lake Erie Metropark, a place I’d talked about in a previous post, located here. This park isn’t far from my home, so I visit often; mostly because I have an annual pass w/unlimited visits.
As I leisurely followed the bend in the road I noticed the glare of the morning sun striking the ground just before the shadowed trees to the left of me. Suddenly, in the grassy area between the road and the edge of the woods, there was a beautiful deer frozen in place, her solitude interrupted by me and my slow-moving automobile.
Surprisingly, she didn’t run into the woods, she just stood there in the open field, staring in my direction. It’s possible she could not see me or my white car in the glare, and that she may have been blinded by the light of the low-hanging sun. This is the first time I have seen a deer in the open that didn’t immediately run into the woods, I was filled with excitement.
The Deer
I stopped the car and grabbed my camera, hoping to get a picture of her before she ran away. I was thrilled that she didn’t leave, she just stood there as I took more than a dozen pictures. I know she could hear my camera, even if she couldn’t quite see where the noise was coming from.
As I was photographing her, I noticed she turned her head in order to look behind her, almost like someone would if they were being stalked. I couldn’t see what she was looking at, and I really didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, she was posing for me, so I kept taking photos.
Image: 1
She then turned and watched me for a few seconds. She seemed calm, and appeared comfortable with me sitting 20 ft. away in my car taking pictures.
Image: 2
Satisfied that I was no threat, she went back to feeding on the green grasses and flowers at hand. I feel fortunate she was active instead of just standing there, as it provided me with the opportunity to capture a variety of images.
Image: 3
I didn’t realize until I got home and loaded the images into my computer that this deer had repeated her movements, she went through the same sequence of events twice (at least). She looked behind her (#1), then looked at me (#2), then started eating again (#3). That was interesting on its own, but what is really weird…
I had taken six photos in a row, the camera file numbers verified that. But it looked like I had two copies of a three-photo sequence. She had repeated her actions and I serendipitously snapped the same poses in the second set, matching the images of the first set. Six photos in a row with what looks like only three pictures. Look closely, you can see the differences.
I put the second set of three photos in the image strip below. They are similar to the images above (#1,2,3), but they are not the same as (#4,5,6). I don’t think I could have done a better job of matching the 3pc sequence if I had planned it out and the deer was a paid actor following a script. I know it probably seems silly to you, but I love a good serendipitous-moment.
Images: 4,5,6
Do Deer Bark?
Okay, I know that might sound strange, but I heard this deer bark. She was looking at me when she did it, but at the time, I didn’t think it was directed at me. Everything had been so relaxed, I didn’t feel she was agitated with me at all. So why the bark?
Later, after doing a google search, I discovered a video of deer noises; you’ll find it at the end of this post. It turns out, deer do bark, and for a variety of reasons. According to the ‘Wondeerful’ website, deer bark to identify their location, as a challenge to intruders, or as a warning signal to other deer in the area. So why did this doe bark?
It turns out the doe had been looking back at her offspring, who was hidden from me, and had been foraging behind the trees and dense hawthorn thickets that lined the other side of the roadway ahead of me. I believe the doe was ‘barking’ her location to the fawn, and possibly telling it to “get over here”, as mothers (and fathers) are prone to do.
Deer Barking
The barking noise was surprising loud, like a dog. I did not know they were capable of making this kind of noise, having never heard it before.
The Fawn
Suddenly, her fawn appears in the open area where I can see her. The fawn is about 40 ft. behind the doe and slowly heading toward mom. They both were as calm as could be, I was the one that was excited. I couldn’t believe they were still so close to me.
Like her mom, she appears to know I am here, but she doesn’t seem too concerned. She keeps looking in my direction as she approaches her mother.
If you enlarge the image above you can see countless pieces of debris on her back, twigs, seeds, and small broken leaves, probably from the hawthorn thickets and small trees along the roadway.
The fawn starting to run as her mother barked again.
Unfortunately there were a few cars coming up behind me and I had to move. I wish I could have grabbed an image of the Deer and the Fawn uniting. Oh well, maybe next time!
The Sounds That Deer Make
On Reflection
I feel fortunate to have engaged with this doe and her fawn for over 10 minutes. It was cool to witness the communication between the two, mom calling for her child to come with her. It was truly a remarkable experience.
Every time I visit Lake Erie Metropark something magical happens.
Thanks for reading my article.
Info Sources: In addition to my personal experience, most ‘researched’ information was gathered from the websites noted below and various Google searches.
- You can learn more about which deer bark at the Wondeerful Farm website here.
- *Public Domain WikiMedia image used with permission via Creative Commons License BY-SA 3.0 Deed and/or BY-SA 4.0 Deed
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