The Coming of the Deer

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Canvas: Preparing

The Coming of the Deer By Pat Behling 2023

Once upon a time there lived two women way up North in Wisconsin near Boulder Junction by Fish Trap Lake. They loved the North with its seasonality, its wildlife and its solitude. They had a beautiful property. Each season brought change to the landscape, the climate and to the animals and birds that lived and played on their land.

The one thing that didn’t change was the coming of the deer. Each year brought new members to the animal families and losses; those who had died from old age, bad health or bad luck. So it was with the little herd of deer that came to Bonnie and Leslie’s feeders. Bonnie had been feeding the deer morning and evening for many years. The deer would arrive early before the feedings just to visit with each other. They’d talk about their plans for the day and decide what they were going to do the next day or figure out where they wanted to stay for the night. In wintertime they actually depended on the corn Bonnie put out. Other seasons they’d go to the feeders mainly to socialize in a place they knew was safe.

The group of deer was made up of brothers and sisters and their offspring. The siblings would talk about things that mattered. They would relate bad news of the latest deer-car fatality or hunter fatality and perhaps a new safe place for them to bed down. Shy-One was the name of the youngest sister of the group. She had her first fawn the year before.

In Spring Shy-One had given birth to a fawn who was soon named Daring-One because she seemed fearless as she began to investigate all of the new things in her world. Her mother was beside herself in trying to teach her young daughter about survival in the Northwoods.

This fawn was called Daring-One because she was always taking on dares her older cousins would present her with. Shy-One would say to her, “please don’t listen to your cousins, they are just bluffing you… They just want to see how gullible you are because you’re the youngest.” “Mom, that’s not true!” Daring-One argued.

“Sometimes they dare me to do things that they want to try but are afraid to do. I’m not afraid of anything!” “Daring-One, you should try not to be afraid of things, it’s true, but you need to be cautious, and not careless.” “Oh come on mom, you were young once, didn’t you ever try things that were dangerous?” Shy-One thought for a moment and then she said, “Honestly no, I have never tried to do dangerous things. Daring-One, our life is dangerous everyday, even when we are careful. With the possibility of catching a disease or having a really bad winter when we can’t find enough food and the hunters… Why on earth would I try to do something dangerous?”

“Oh mom, if I thought about all of that everyday, I’d be afraid of my own shadow! I just want to try different things and show my cousins I’m as good as they are” And so it was, the adults conversed everyday about the important things and the yearlings played and dared each other. The adults were concerned so many more people were moving to the North and building homes and roads. The more isolated they were the better for them. The more human contact they had, the greater the danger to them. They felt safe at Bonnie and Leslie’s since there were no hunters and Bonnie was always there with the corn. They knew that they still had to be careful. They were always wary.

Bonnie and Leslie had gotten very used to this little family unit and pretty much recognized the different deer from their frequent visits. The deer would be waiting for Bonnie to come out with her bucket of corn. They did trust her, but they all stayed their distance. It was taboo to ever even think of letting a human get too close, and certainly never become friends with. “Leslie, do you see that little female yearling over there?” “Yes,” “There’s something different about her.” “What do you mean Bonnie?” “I’m not sure, she seems to try to get closer to me than any of the others. Watch the next time I take the corn out, you’ll be able to see which one she is.” So Leslie watched as Bonnie in her red coat with bucket in hand walked toward the feeding station. Leslie paid close attention to all of the deer and sure enough one did seem a little less shy. Bonnie returned and asked, “Did you see her?” “Yes, I do think she stayed a little closer than the others.” “It’s strange, almost as if we both sense something, she and I.” “It’s always so special to be close to them. They are so beautiful, so tentative, but this is different, I don’t quite understand.”

Meanwhile, Shy-One had sensed something herself and she was not happy. “Daring-One, why do you stay so close when the woman comes to feed us?” “Why not mom?” “No one else does, we all keep our distance, and you know how dangerous humans are.” “But mom we know this woman feeds us, she has never been mean to us, her land is safe for us, why should I fear her?” “Daring-One, don’t even go there, you know it is our custom to stay away, not to get close.” “Customs change.” Daring-One challenged. “Not this one, if you continue with this behavior I will bring this up before the elders, do you understand me?” “Yes mother.” Daring-One had never been in such trouble, though there had been times before when she could have been…. She knew her mother was serious so she didn’t argue. But this time was different. Daring-One felt something funny about this woman in the red coat. She wasn’t getting close on a dare; she was getting close because she wanted to. It was all very strange and she just wanted to have some time to think about it.

The days went on and each time Bonnie fed the deer, she still sensed something special about the little yearling. “I don’t know Leslie, there is something very inquisitive about her, like she’s trying to connect with me. She actually seems to try to make eye contact with me.” Meanwhile Daring-One was wondering why this woman kept looking right at her. She had been at other feeding stations before with people around and no one had ever really looked at her. She couldn’t figure out what was happening. She didn’t try to get too much closer for fear her mother would bring her before the elders, yet she wanted to explore this strange sense that she had about this person in the red coat.

One day Leslie said to Bonnie, “why don’t you see if you can get the little deer to eat out of the bucket?” “Oh I don’t think that would ever happen, do you?” Bonnie asked. “Well you won’t know unless you try,” Leslie replied. So the next day before she went over to the first feeder she stopped and looked right into Daring-One’s eyes and lowered the full bucket to see what she would do. Daring-One was shocked! Could it be she wondered? Was this person asking me to eat out of the bucket? She didn’t move and Bonnie lifted the bucket up and continued on her way to fill the feeders.

“Well that didn’t seem to work Leslie.” “Give it time Bonnie, I think she might do it.” After eating all the deer were gathered round talking and one of Shy-One’s brothers said, “Why do you think the woman stopped today and held the bucket down?” “Don’t know,” was what most all the deer said. They all thought it was strange. Later that night Daring-One approached her mother and said, “ I think I know why the woman did what she did with her bucket.” “Why?” asked her mother? “ I think she was asking me to eat out of it.” “You must be crazy Daring-One! No deer would ever do that.” Her mother snorted. “Mother, she always looks me right in the eye, she’s tempting me to approach her and eat out of the bucket.” “I don’t want you talking like this! I told you what would happen if you got any closer to this person, now stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.”

The next day the same thing happened, Bonnie stopped short of going to the feeder and looked right at Daring-One. This time Shy-One was watching a little more closely and did notice again something strange between the woman and Daring-One. Daring-One held her breath and waited and then Bonnie continued on to the feeders. “See mom, did you see her? I told you she’s trying to get me to eat out of her bucket.” “Well I have to admit, something is going on but you know how I feel about you getting too close. Remember what happened to your uncle? He was shot and killed by a human that he thought liked him because there was always salt and food for us. The human bated us to get close and then he killed my brother.” “Yes, mom I know but this is different, this is more like she just wants me to get close. What could she possibly do to me if I eat out of the bucket since her hands are full, she has no gun.” Daring-0ne asked. “I still don’t like it.”

The next day, was just the same, Bonnie came out, stopped and lowered the bucket and looked right at Daring-One. Daring-One looked right back, cocked her head while still caught in Bonnie’s gaze, took a slow deep breath and took a step closer. Leslie was watching. She thought today might be the day. Bonnie was now holding her breath, would today be the day? Would this little yearling actually come up and eat from her bucket? Suddenly all the other deer realized something was happening, and Shy-One could barely watch. Daring-One took another step, and another. Bonnie held her breath and kept looking right into Daring-One’s eyes. Suddenly Daring-One was there, at the bucket. It seemed as if all the deer were holding a collective breath, there was so much tension and apprehension in the air.

Then without much hesitation, and with a twitch in her tail, Daring-One broke her gaze, stretched her neck, looked down into the bucket and ate out of it. As quickly as she did she immediately turned and jumped away. This startled everyone, including Bonnie. Suddenly it seemed time had stopped. Both the deer and Bonnie were suspended in the sense of a new relationship. Bonnie waited a few moments and then proceeded to fill the feeders as normal.

All of the deer were quite shook up by Daring-One’s boldness to eat out of the bucket, but as they calmed down they all looked to Fast-Runner, their leader for her reaction. “We know that on the one hand you have gotten too close to a human little Daring-One,” said Fast-Runner. Daring-One was ready, she was about to get scolded for breaking their custom. “But I watched the eyes of the woman in the red coat and could sense her behavior and I believe she was very pleased and touched that you ate from her bucket. It seems she means well and wants to connect with you.” Shy-One was delighted that her little girl was not in trouble. Daring-One could not believe her ears. “It is important for all of us to appreciate the potential danger of being around humans. But in this case, it seems different. This person wants to be our friend and she has helped us for many years providing a safe haven for us. It was very brave of you to eat out of her bucket, you clearly made her very happy.”

When Bonnie got back into the house Leslie was at the door. “You did it, she ate from the bucket!” Leslie exclaimed. “I know it, I can’t believe it. It was just incredible, she kept looking into my eyes right up until she put her head down to eat. It was so unbelievable to be that close and that connected after all of these years.” Bonnie was truly touched by the fact that Daring-One had trusted her enough to eat out of the bucket. And so it was, for one brief moment, way up North, that one little yearling and a woman in a red coat connected and touched each others’ lives in a very special way. This deer family still believed that it was in their best interest to stay away from humans, but here in the North woods, they found someone who didn’t try to trick them, just wanted to help them and to be a little closer to them.