OUR RESIDENT THREE LEGGED DEER

My hubby took this pix this morning when the snow was lightly falling just west of our cabin.  A three legged deer is on the right, her sidekick is on the left.  They are nearly always together.

Last fall our yard had an abundance of red oak acorns falling on the ground like marbles.  It was one of those years when you had to be careful where you stepped for fear of sliding on your backside and careful where you stood when hanging clothes on the clothesline.  A plunk on top of the head by a falling acorn stings!

With so much acorn "candy" in our yard, we began seeing deer during daylight hours feeding close to our cabin.   But one deer stood out among the rest, a doe with a good portion of her front leg missing.  Her stub leg showed no sign of injury or infection and appeared to be fully healed over.  Another younger deer always stood by her side, a doe that was probably her fawn.  Did she loose her leg after being struck by a car?  Was her leg tangled in a fence? Did she have a narrow escape from a wolf attack?  We'll never know her story.

To this day our three legged deer keeps showing up in the yard and often beds down in tag alders near the house.  Every time we spot her, the doe fawn is nearby.  It seems as though the fawn has a mission to keep an eye on the older deer.  The young deer may well be helping the older one survive the winter.

Often at night we hear deer kicking away snow and crunchy leaves searching for buried acorns near our bedroom window.  We've woke up in the night several times hearing the deers scratching sounds.  Looking out our window in the moonlight we've seen the three legged deer with her buddy just a few feet away.  With one front leg missing, foraging through snow has to be difficult for her.  Maybe the fawn kicks away a little larger area of snow so the three legged deer can find acorns too, perhaps unknowingly, but one is definitely aiding the other. 

So far our three legged deer looks healthy and plump and she seems to have adapted fairly well to her handicap.  Running is difficult for her, but she throws herself forward at a pretty fast pace when she feels the need.  When I think of our zub-zero temps and lack of feed in harsh winters, it's a wonder that even healthy whitetail deer make it through.  Although this winter has been relatively mild so far, at least in January, this three legged deer is a true survivor.

Just checkin' to see if anybody's observant... here's a little track and treasure spotted on a walk the other day!