North American Deer: Mule, Whitetail and Coastal Blacktail Deer

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Twice we took tentative steps toward her, and twice she eased off just far enough to maintain her distance—then stopped turned, and gave us another of her coy, come-hither looks.

But before we could make any sense of thedoe's strange behavior, the mystery solved itself . . . for there in front of us, just a few feet from where the deer had first appeared from out of the tangle of oak brush, lay a quivering bundle of white-spotted red.

Now it became clear: The little doe was purposely exposing herself to great potential danger in a bold attempt to lure us away from her fawn. (At that extremely close range, and standing stock still and broadside as she was, Momma Muley would have been sure meat for a shootist, an easy bag for a bowman, and not even too much of a challenge for an Anasazi Indian with an atlatl.) It was a heroic gesture, made by one of nature's most timid creatures.

While I love the quaking aspen forests and the high, hidden places of the rugged mountains in which I live, it's the deer and elk and bear that lend the wilderness its surreal enchantment. Take away those grand elusive creatures, and . . . At any rate, with the mystery solved, my friend and I quietly backtracked away from the brave little doe and her oak-brush nurser—your hearts light, our day's problems (and there had been many) forgotten.

Nature can do that.

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