Prior to taking up residence in Atlanta several of my friends had commented on the amount of wildlife in the area, of especial interest to me was the talk of deer, and I became quite excited at the notion of seeing one of these magnificent creatures in the wild. The day we moved in to the new house I expected to see an entire herd, assembled at the end of the driveway to form an impromptu welcoming committee, but there were none to be seen. I anxiously ran to the side yard – the only area with an unobstructed view of the property but still nothing. In the days that followed my wife and I dedicated considerable time and energy in recognizance work designed to spot one of these elusive beasts, but the time went by with no sign of any of the antlered animals. I arrived at the inevitable conclusion that all the talk of deer was simply a ruse, nothing more that a harmless fib in order to perhaps attract tourists to the area.
But on the fifth day after our arrival while driving down a quiet tree lined road I finally saw one. It was reared up on its hind legs with its front hoofs high in the air in one of those classic high-ho silver type poses. It was in perfect silhouette and its impressive antlers bore testament to its maturity and dominance. The only disappointment was that it was an image painted on a road sign. The bold black and yellow depiction was on a diamond shaped metal plate attached to a steel pole.
Now I have been driving long enough to know that a diamond shaped road sign means warning, but why I wondered was such an advisory necessary. My first thought was one of panic as I considered that perhaps these animals would attack without warning, springing from the cover of roadside bushes to assault pedestrians, but sanity regained its grip on me as I realized I was safe inside my car. I completed my journey without being molested by any wild animals which did nothing to allay my suspicion as to their existence, but on reflection had to admit that the road sign supported the argument made by the deer advocates.
I consulted my brother in law about the problem. He has seen many deer, usually from the vantage point of looking down a gun barrel at them, and although I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to kill such a beautiful animal I valued his opinion about these elusive nature dwelling species. He actually told me more about deer that I really wanted or needed to know. I learned of their habits, the best time to see them, their sleeping patterns and their diet. He told me that the best way to see them was to place something called a salt lick in my garden.
I did some research. A salt lick, as the name might indicate is a large block of salt that the animals lick. They weigh about 4 lbs, which is enough to provide flavor for about six trillion bags of potato chips. They provide sodium, calcium, iron, phosphorous and zinc, all being essential elements for animal bone and muscle growth. But there is a most serious downside to the use of these saline deposits. According to their labeling they also attract cattle, sheep, woodchucks, mountain goats, sheep, squirrels moose and elephants. I desperately wanted to see a deer, but the idea of such an exotic menagerie parading through my garden was far too much of a price to pay.
A few days later during one of my morning garden surveys I finally saw my first deer, a real one this time. There were actually three of them standing next to some overhanging trees. Disappointingly none of them exhibited the pose represented on the road sign, that classic rampant prancing position that you so often see on Christmas cards when they are pulling a gravity defying sleigh. Instead the large buck nibbled aimlessly on a tuft of grass as another walked slowly away from me surveying the ground with a ‘hey, where did they put the salt lick?” kind of expression on his face. The third one was motionless, statuesque, attempting invisibility through lack of movement. Deer are remarkably difficult to spot unless they are moving. They are well camouflaged in the surrounding growth, but once spotted they are a sight that charms the heart and delights the senses. Over the next couple of weeks we had several opportunities to see these magnificent animals and each time the experience was one of delight and wonder.
Stephen R. Drage
Author: MUD LANE
