This morning I was out at 6, had the little gas waterpump running by the pond (filling the pool), was weeding/planting a small garden bed (about 6' around).....I look up for a second, and there is a doe standing in my driveway about 40' away, eating at the edge of the road and watching me with one eye. I planted, she ate, we watched each other for about 40 minutes until I was done and cleaned up my stuff and came inside. I talked to her softly and she just flicked her ears a little and went back to eating. It was so cool, I could have sat there all day! I wish I had my camera but of course it was in the truck and I didn't think I could go get it and come back and she would still be there.....

The doe lives on my property, I see her in the back gardens all the time (further away) and there are always hoofprints around the house and through the garden.

Seems she loves echinacaea, so not sure I will see any of those this year, as the tips are all taken off.....but she leaves most other stuff alone, so I'm glad to share!

That's so neat! I wish we saw them more around here.

Very cool! My husband was out weeding early one morning with our chocolate lab when she was a puppy. He looked up and saw a fawn about 10 feet away from Heidi. Heidi and the fawn were sizing each other up, like maybe they could be playmates. Mama was standing at the edge of the property, just watching. We thought that was pretty amazing, too-no apparent fear from Mama or baby.

I think they can sense when there's no danger from you (or the puppy). And they are very curious creatures....every time we till or work up a new garden area, the next morning there are hoofprints all over it, as though they had to come check out what you were doing. (And I think they like 'dancing' in the new fresh dirt!)

Sounds like one heck of a day! How neat. :)

They r beautiful we have mama duck and her babies, deer, bunnies love
TO watch!

Good thing you guys see your deer and don't live in South dakota, I am not a hunter but there are quite a few here. LOL

Great way to start the day.

Cool

Awesome

No. You don't. they are voracious eaters and eat anything. They have decimated my holly bushes, moved the cover off the strawberries and ate ALL the fruit, and a deer tick gave my poor baby (a chocolate lab) both Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis. I need to be checked too. I am so getting ready to learn to hunt AND learn to like venison. Can I send the plethora of deer in my area to you?

I am so afraid of hitting a deer during rutting season. They do so much damage to vehicles. They also damage all the vegetation. We currently live in a small town, which is city life to me. My husband wants to sell the house and move to the country. I am afraid of wild critters and have no desire to live there. This is a quandry for us. He wants a big shed and if I consent to moving, I want my own shed for quilting!

Deer are beautiful creatures, but they can be destructive to plants (especially gardens) We have a doe and 2 fawns that pass through our yard daily. They are fun to watch. I believe they have been nibbling on our green beans.

I like wildlife ... alive and from a distance. If I'm in their territory, I respect it and behave accordingly. I surrounded "my" territory with a 6' wood fence and will insist (usually with the unsolicited help of three large canines) that critters remain on the opposite side.

Mine.
Yours.

I don't need the problems that they bring with them. I don't need/want the fleas or ticks they carry, or the diseases that they could spread. I don't need/want the injuries that could result from a "meeting" where they feel threatened or emboldended during rut. I've seen cute, pretty, Doe Deer SHREAD a large dog with her hooves - a dog that was a good 30' from the Doe's fawn and walking in the opposite direction. I've seen Bull Elk break through a chain link fence and destroy wood decking because his harem was near and he didn't want the people sitting on the deck to get any closer. I was one of the people ON that deck (not for long mind you!).

I've also seen far too often what Deer can do to an automobile (and themselves) so I support hunting to thin the herd as Deer no longer have any natural predators (other than the inevitable starvation if the herd isn't thinned).

So I probably would have enjoyed the Doe in the driveway for a breif moment - then would have taken immediate meausres to insure that future visits were not welcome.