Watching Deer Graze - Karen Goat Keeper

Deer seem to be a popular reason for people to live or move to the country. Watching deer graze out on the hillside or in the backyard starts or ends a nice day.

One or the reasons deer do graze in our backyard is an absence of dogs. Deer are afraid of dogs. We prefer watching deer graze to watching a dog chase everything off and bark much of the time.

buck deer grazing — This buck deer has a lovely set of antlers. He should drop them soon. Maybe I will find them in the hill pasture.

We like dogs and see them when we visit friends. Dogs take time we don’t have and supervision when we want to do other things. So we don’t have a dog.

Usually does graze in the back yard and in the hill pasture. At present there is a pair, probably a doe and last year’s fawn, and another doe who wander across the yard cropping the grass. One discovered fallen sunflower seeds under the bird feeder one evening.

watching deer graze can mean deer watching me — Deer have good vision for motion making them hard to sneak up on. I am far away, maybe a hundred yards, and this doe still spotted me. She decided my camera and I were not a threat and went back to grazing.

These three see us standing in the kitchen and get used to us being around. They take off only if we walk out into the yard. The small herd in the hill pasture is much more flighty and numerous.

Six does wander down from the hill beside the pasture and out into the hill pasture. They watch as I call the goats in for the night. The goats stand at the barn watching deer graze and occasionally call to them, but get no answer.

watching deer graze — Winter temperatures have been a bit warm and grass might be growing a little. If not, grass is still tall from last fall and the deer have noticed. A small herd is out grazing almost every evening.

Rarely bucks show up. A trio went across the back yard one year. A pair went through this year. One joined the herd in the hill pasture.

I found a lovely pair of sheds, five points on each, by a telephone pole one year. Looking at the buck in the hill pasture with his nice antlers I wondered where these would fall. In the meantime I can stand at the gate watching deer graze out in the pasture.

Celebrate the special times on the hills in “My Ozark Home“.