A hard post to write

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It is hard to write this post: Something has been killing the deer in the Hollow. The new neighbor stopped me last week and asked if it was normal to see dead deer in the Hollow; he had seen three in the prior few days—a fawn that had lost its spots and a couple of does.

And then there were four. The mangled body of a young buck was found next to one of the roads I walk daily, just over the edge of the steep slope. I had to look to be sure, and I’m positive that it was either Bambi or Bro.

After having been so regular, neither had been showing up to eat for several weeks, although I had been looking. I know that the young bucks are often run off by the does or by larger bucks as the rut approaches, but several neighbors had seen them. I kept hoping they would return, and I still keep looking in hopes that one will show up.

I’ve written about death in the Hollow before, usually about deer hit by vehicles on the highway. Last year a small fawn was killed by a bobcat, but we have never before had healthy adult deer killed. No one thinks it’s human hunters; they wouldn’t just leave the carcasses (which don’t last long as scavengers do their part in the circle of life). The most likely killers are coyotes and/or a bobcat, but no one knows. It’s a sad and somewhat frightening unanswered question and seems to fit right in with the rest of 2020.

Fortunately, 2020 has been a typically beautiful fall here in the Hollow (except for the remnants of a couple of hurricanes; Delta has brought us rain almost all day long today, and some of it has been torrential). The trees are changing color almost daily, and the fall flowers continue to bloom. The thistles and other plants are releasing their seeds to the wind (or the birds!).

More and more does and their 2020 fawns have discovered the “diner” and show up in the meadow, sometimes resting nearby after the evening meal.

I’m sure I’ll have more to write another day. I hope it’s a happier story.