Fawn-tastic Morning!

To say my husband is an early riser is an understatement. Robin rarely stays in bed past 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. He considers getting up at 5:00 or 5:30 sleeping in! Needless to say, I do not get up when he does. Don't get me wrong: I like being up early, I just don't like getting up early. There's something about going from a horizontal position to a vertical one that is getting harder and harder as the years go by. Consequently, when my sweet hubby called for me just after 6:00 this morning, I was not enthused. Until, that is, I realized he was saying something about a new fawn. Instantly I was fully awake (can we arrange this for every morning??) and jumping into clothes. I raced downstairs and grabbed my camera, pleased that I remembered to put on the zoom lens for those perfect closeup shots.

We walked down the driveway in the gentle foggy light of early morning. Robin had seen the doe with her new baby only moments before, and he thought he knew where to find them. On the other side of the road, a few yards down from our mailbox, we crossed the side ditch and made our way into the trees. We hadn't gone far when Robin pointed to our right and said softly, "There he is." No sooner than the words left his lips, the tiny fawn ran straight to us on wobbly legs! The little fellow was so new, it didn't know the difference between a human and its mommy. It came right up to us, nuzzling our legs in search of some breakfast. Oh, I was so tempted to bend down and pet it, or better yet, pick it up and cradle it in my arms. But we dared not even touch it, for fear that its mother would abandon her new baby.

I clicked away with my camera, but alas! That wonderful zoom lens so good for closeups was way too powerful when the fawn was practically standing on my feet. The result, sadly, is that most of my photos are blurry. Rats! I've done a little editing in an effort to sharpen them, but they're still out of focus. I'm posting them anyway, though, because it was such a wondrous way to start the day!

It wasn't long before Robin noticed Mama Deer watching us intently, several yards away. We wanted to get out of the way so she would come back to get her baby. That proved difficult, however, because wherever we went, the little fawn followed us! After several attempts at leading it toward Mama and running away quickly, Robin finally outsmarted it by leading the fawn to a big tree and then running around it and back toward me.

When I went back a couple of hours later, there was no sign of Mama or Baby. That's a good thing because it means that they're together somewhere safe. But just think, Robin and I got to see this tiny creature up close, obviously born during the night and barely dry, so new and full of innocence and wonder. How sweet is that?!