About a week ago I was sitting on my porch when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Since I have many chipmunks, I thought it was probably one of those. Then I saw more movement. I got up to have a look. There was a fawn in my flower bed.

I went inside to get my phone to take a picture. Its coat was a beautiful shade of tan and it was filled with spots. By the time I got back the little thing was on its feet. I captured a good photo of him.

I am calling it a him, but I have no idea what its sex is. It was very small. It was about a foot in length and about 15 inches high. I think it was probably a newborn.

That mommy deer knew what she was doing. I had had a dog but had put it to sleep just a week prior. She knew she found a safe place for her baby. That made me think just how wonderful nature is. I kept checking on the baby. It was still there as I went to bed.

The next morning, I checked the first thing. It was still there. In fact, it was sound asleep as I walked out to check on it. It stayed in that spot for a very long time. When the lawnmowers arrived, it was still there. It stayed until they went to mow around the bed.

I am not sure if the mowers caused it to move or the rain that began about the same time. I thought my visitor was gone. That night it returned to the flower bed. It remained until morning then left. Once again it returned to spend the night. That was three nights it spent in my flower bed.

I so enjoy being able to watch nature. Animals are smart. I have seen it again with its mother, in fact, it was running ahead of her. It ran back and forth across the yard – playing.

That made me think about the fawn that we cared for years ago. My children were still in high school at the time. Dick, my husband, found a fawn when he was mowing hay.

He got down off the tractor and moved it so as not to run over it. He was on the little farm that adjoined the one with our barn. We were renting the house at the time. The lady who was living there watched as he moved the deer. When it was right back in the same spot she came out with a basket. Dick put the fawn in the basket and she took care of it.

I was in Fredonia going to graduate school to earn my master’s degree in reading. When I returned home there was a basket with a fawn in it in my kitchen. The children were thrilled to have a new pet. The poor little thing had a leg that was injured. We are not sure how that happened.

The children took turns taking it out for a walk. The fawn really pulled them along. We fed it with a baby bottle because it was very small. When it got bigger, we turned it loose. Dick took it down to the farm. It walked in the barn and ate cow feed then left each morning. He was not tied, but it stayed around with our dog. Ebony was a good mother to it. The two of them often played.

Our neighbor, in concern for the fawn, stopped and separated the two animals. As he drove away, he saw the two of them go back together. More than one car ended up in the ditch as they watched the two animals.

One day he did not return to the barn to eat. We thought that he was gone. Our dog kept going to my husband trying to get him to follow. The deer was stuck in our wood pile that had stickers to let it dry. He could not turn around so could not get out. Dick cut the stickers to release it.

At the time I was teaching at the Lander Elementary School. When I went to school one Monday the children in my class were telling me about this little deer that came right up to them. That same day the mail carrier told my husband that he was sure our little deer was in Lander by the garage. He noticed the injured leg.

When I got home, I made a phone call. The people had put it in a pen. The children and I drove over.

As soon as they opened the gate the fawn walked right down to us and climbed in the car. The man just rubbed his head. He said if he had not seen it with his own eyes he would not have believed it. His son had an awful time holding it down when they brought it home.

Our deer came back to the farm and seemed happy to see the dog. He lived at the barn for almost a year. When he began to bother the neighbors, we found a place for him to go. The gentleman who picked him up said he had seen a lot of deer but none as tame as that one!

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.