Thoughts from a Carolina Porch

We invite you to sit down and visit for a spell with Becky, our third and final guest blogger of the week. She's waiting for you out back on the porch with a nice big ole' pitcher of cold iced tea. Relax and cool off on this hot summer day as she tells ya' about the local wildlife.

There are many kinds of animals living side by side with us that we never even realize are there. I've lived in my house, in this old neighborhood, in a small Southern town for well over ten years. In that time, I've seen raccoons come up to the doorstep, big ole 'possums walk bold as brass across the front yard in midday, and hawks who regularly drop by and jeer at my cats from the trees, but until yesterday I've never seen a deer standing in my neighbor's side yard, eating grass in this neighborhood. Oh, and don't you just love the natural surroundings, replete with a stack of old tires and a guard rail. National Geo wants me bad!

I guess they could be there. There were muskrats in the creek before the human neighbors up the street saw one and freaked out. They had to get Animal Control out here for some poor little family of muskrats that were eating my yarrow! It wasn't just that he was there - the thing that worried me about this deer was his apparent age.

From the white spotting on the back, wouldn't you think this was a young deer? A deer who would usually be with other deer still? He (or she) came hesitantly out of the shallow woods behind him, and ate with jerky, nervous energy, bolting back every time a car went by.

I slipped casually outside and sat on my porch, studiously not making eye contact. The deer froze and looked at me, but relaxed when he (or she!) realized I wasn't looking (ha! fooled you, deer!), and went on eating. I got only a few shots, all a bit blurry, before he bolted back into the woods.

Now ya'll have to understand: I'm a mom. Worrying is what I do best, even when it isn't about my kids! I've been watching and worrying about that little deer ever since. I mean, where the heck did he come from, and why aren't there any other deer with him? I don't want to call some glorified exterminator out here to remove the "inconvenient" wildlife, but I would like to know if he's okay, and if maybe a little parched corn would hit the spot. Is that wrong?

Becky is the author of the blog"Tap Dancing Beyond the Edge of Reason." There is a quick link to it via her name in the subtitle. She's an admitted (not committed) "crazy cat lady" with the handwriting of a psychopath. Becky is southern blogger as well. She, hubby, and her two boys live near Raleigh, North Carolina.