Interesting Critters in my Back Yard III: Mule Deer

This actually happened a couple of weeks back, right after the first real cool front of the year went through. Alpine is an interesting place: In the fall - almost always in mid-October - humidities suddenly drop from about 30-40% to less than 10% overnight. We call Alpine, "the chapped lips capitol of Texas" for this reason. My pickup starts to give me electrostatic shocks, front and back doors are always open at mid-day... and the does run off their yearling fawns in preparation for the autumn rut.

So, let me set the stage a bit. I'm an insomniac. What happens is, I'll lay down to bed, and music fills my head (Most of the time, this leads directly to sleep, but...). If something compelling happens to pop into the ol' noggin, I'll have to get up and noodle it out on the guitar. When I finally do get to sleep though, I sleep like a ton of bricks for up to seven hours (When most nights, four or five will do).

This particular morning, I had woken up from a nine hour sleep after being up for over thirty hours. When this happens, it is virtually like sleepwalking for the first hour or so. By the time the coffee is ready, I have already forgotten that I made it.

With that in mind, imagine me stumbling into the livingroom to see a mule deer doe admiring her reflection in my window. It must have been like a mirror to her - or one-way glass - because my freaking out diving for my iPhone didn't alert her in the least. It was hilarious to watch her, because as soon as she'd move, she'd catch her reflection in the window and stop to look again: Take a step, stop... take a step, stop... &c.

I had to clear the cobwebs enough to make my "whitetail deer to mule deer size conversion calculation": A yearling mule deer is almost the same size as a mature whitetail doe, so I soon realized I was dealing with a yearling apart from her mother for the first time ever. This explained a lot, but not how in God's green earth she got inside of the eight foot fence that surrounds my row of townhouses. There was only one possibility: The clueless youngster walked in the driveway!

I could only get a shot of her after she went past my patio, so the pic isn't any good, but it was an hilarious experience. The instant she saw me step out from behind my fence to snap the pic, she bolted. Fortunately, she was pointed back in the direction of the driveway.



What is it about redheads, anyway?