Last week I had a very unexpected visitor. As I was fixing some lunch, I looked out the kitchen window to see this little lady calmly browsing in my front yard. We have plenty of white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) around here since we back up onto a State Forest, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had one venture into my yard. For years I’ve had quite a few dogs here, especially back when I was actively involved in rescue. But over the years many have been adopted or have passed away (most at a very ripe old age), so my dog numbers are way down. All the dogs I have left are also older and aren’t nearly as attentive to what goes on as they used to be. In fact, several of them were outside when I spotted the deer. I’ve also been letting more and more of the yard revert back to a more natural state since it attracts more birds.

Years ago, when I first moved here, I had three older dogs, and I used to see deer and gopher tortoises in the yard all the time. Over time between mowing much of the brush back and having more dogs on the property, the deer and tortoises moved to the back of the property where things have always been kept wild. I’m definitely noticing more birds as I’ve decreased the amount of mowing that I do, and now to have at least one deer also stopping by makes me very happy.