....oh deer

Yogis,

My soul plant is Mullein. My soul color is brown. My soul animal is the deer….and this is their time of year.

As the sun begins setting earlier and the air cools, the deer reemerge in force to feed and prepare for both winter and mating season, also called rutting season.  Rutting season spans late September through November with the peak being October and fawns arriving in May and June. Suddenly deer seem to be everywhere! In the yard, in open fields and running in front of your car at dusk.

Last Friday as I walked Phoebe down our block at 5 am it looked like a deer parade. Every few steps a doe would stick her head out from behind a bush with those wide-open eyes and ears pointing skyward, acting utterly shocked that a human would be there. In one yard a doe stood with her two young ones intently watching us pass only to be startled when we literally almost bumped into them on at the curve in the street on the return. Where did you come from, they seemed to ask?  Deer me!

This week the deer parties have begun in earnest. Opening the front door first thing in the morning exposes a herd in the front yard eating acorns from our old magnificent oak. All heads rise in unison, snapping to attention, kind of like being a teenager and having your parents walk in at that inopportune moment. Oh, deer me!

Late this summer a sign was posted at our creek that for the first time, deer bow hunting by marksmen was going to occur beginning in September. As you can imagine this has generated some heated discussions online both in favor and against. Reading through them I discovered that there are the deer lovers and then the not so much group, with complaints ranging from car collisions to missing tops of plants to the general I don’t want wildlife in my yard (which is a newly evolving suburban group).

I’m clearly in the deer lover camp. To me they are the most docile, sweet, innocent, beautiful creatures who never intend harm to anyone or any other creature. How many of us can say that? Their ‘over population’ mainly has been caused by us building more and larger homes, pools, paved driveways and stores on what was their home. Then we place delicious food in the yard and are surprised when they partake. Oh deer…..

I have never battled them in the garden. The plants which I find never making it to adulthood, I replace with something else less appealing to their taste buds. I plant more herbs and medicinal plants vs the ornamentals that seem to be at the top of their menu picks. When they do munch, I remind myself that the plants aren’t ‘mine’ and that the deer and I both deserve to share in the bounty of mother earth. And surprisingly I have discovered that the haircut they give the black eyed susans each spring cause each chewed end to produce multiple stalks for an ocean of yellow come summer. 

So, I am more than fine cohabitating on this land with the deer. When they look me in the eye it is as if they can see my soul and I always give them a wave. This fall I have been telling them to stay put and not venture down to the creek. I hope they are listening…….

All are welcome,
SARAH