Thursday Thirteen

1. Deer like Cheerios. I learned this at 7 a.m. as I watched a doe successfully fight off several other deer while she stood over the stale Cheerios I had tossed out for the birds. Once the other deer had given up, she ate like they were the best thing she'd ever tasted.

2. Deer fight by nipping at one another with their teeth and by flailing their hooves. Bucks charge with their antlers only during mating season.

3. I think my totem might be the deer. Deer are very curious animals, always watching, looking and occasionally investigating that which puzzles them. They have been known to look in the windows of my house.

4. If deer is my animal totem, then this means I should maintain my innocence and gentleness and be open-hearted with others, according to animaltotem.com.



5. The deer around here are called white-tailed deer, otherwise known as Odocoileus virginianus or the Virginia deer.

6. While deer are lovely to look at and fun to watch, they do a lot of damage to the hay fields. Herds of deer can decimate an alfalfa field almost overnight. They also are hard on fences; if they find a weak spot they will go through the fence instead of jumping it, and eventually the wires will come loose from the posts because of the deer's constant movement and tugging.

7. A herd of deer apparently have one doe as look-out. She will always spot me. If I have not startled her, but am like a shadow against the house, she will move toward me, slowly. She will stamp a front hoof to get my attention. She will move a step or two closer, watching to see if I move. She will snort at me, stamp some more, and then bolt, her white tail waving an alert to the oblivious grazing herd, who will then run off as well.

8. Sometimes when I sit outside and play the guitar, the deer will come out to listen.

9. The male deer, called a buck or a stag, has horns that are initially covered in a velvet skin. About this time of year the buck sheds this skin by rubbing his horns against trees or other hard objects. The action leaves the horns looking bloody and shredded.

10. Bucks also fight one another for their territory, but only during mating season. It is a rather noiseless event (which I have actually seen and filmed, though it was some years ago) aside from the sound of the horns clashing. They charge at each other, heads down, and crash together. They do this until one gives up and leaves the area.

11. At other times, bucks run together. I usually see four or more at a time.

12. Does are more solitary, unless they have fawns. Then they seem to move together in pairs. I have always thought that was so they would have a babysitter.

13. A herd of deer, then, is really a meeting of smaller groups of deer or single deer, all of whom have decided that our pasture field is the best place for a meal.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; the list of folks who play is located here. This is my 153rd time to play.