I let my dog Gizmo out, but when i went to let him back in, he was gone, Not an unsual situation, since he has a tendency to run off in the daytime. He’s got an unhealthy affinity for the pig farm across the way. This always means a lot of work for me, to get him cleaned up. So it was with some trepidation that i stood on the front porch and called, my voice ringing through the neighborhood. He either couldn’t hear me, or was ignoring me. About that time, i noticed the deer that was standing about 75 yards in front of my house in the little grove of trees. The deer stared at me and so i said Hi. I always say hi to the deer. I think they’re cute. (I let them hide in my yard during deer season. I think word’s gotten around among them).

Well, the deer walked toward me and i said, “Are you coming in for coffee?” She stopped, blinked a few times, and then snorted, running off to my left into the woods, making a big production of her flight, complete with those bounding jumps, even though there was nothing on the ground to jump over. I said, “Well, that was a little overdone, Bambi.” She paused on the side of the house, big ears perked, alert. She thought shw as concealed behind some high brush, but she wasn’t. I looked toward her again and said, “I seeeee yooouuuu….” So she turned and ran back in front of me, through the yard instead of into the woods away from me. (Strange. It made me laugh). I heard her go into the woods behind my house.

A few seconds later, as i was calling for Giz again, the deer reappeared on my left, having circled around the house and come back. She stood there and stared at me some more and i started laughing. “What are you doing?” i asked her, fully prepared for her to answer during this odd moment. She made that big dramatic bounding flight back into my front yard, where she was near the grove of trees again. About this time, Giz came trotting toward the house and onto the porch and i pointed the deer out to him. “Look, Gizzy–it’s a deer.” The deer moved around and made some noise, and Giz spotted her, whined, and launched off the porch for a good chase. The two of them disappeared toward the road that runs in front of my house. I called Giz again and he started back, huffing and puffing. About halfway back, i noticed that the deer was right behind him, Following him. Giz heard her too, and turned around to reprimand her with a bark. The deer whirled and ran again, and Giz gave chase once more. Then i called him to the porch and he came to sit beside me, huffing and puffing even more, but smiling. (Yes, dogs smile). I watched as the deer walked through the yard in front of us and back into the woods.

I suspect they are friends.