Oh Deer

    Spot the difference. Is this the same fella/gal? The ears look similar. Nice to see a deer eating someone else's greenery for a change, in this case on the Allegheny River Trail (I still can't get used to that strange American word for "path"), which is a good bet for a pleasant saunter around our local town, Olean.
  I have a love-hate relationship with white tail deer. The first time I visited then-to-be hubby in Western New York, one snowy January, we drove through the State Park and watched a bunch of them romantically cantering through the snow alongside the car. Probably ordered by hubby specially, along with the crisp, white, picture-postcard snow itself, to persuade me that WNY may not be Manhattan but has its bright spots.
 When I go for my morning run up our lane, I always sort of hope to see one popping out of the mist and tap-dancing across the road, little hooves clicking. Once, on the Allegheny trail, we saw a mother with triplet fawns obediently following. Nothing could be sweeter. nd I'll never forget the stately, antlered buck who took refuge in our back garden one hunting season, strolling nonchalantly through as though he owned the place. He knew full well, of course, that you're not allowed to shoot near a house.
  But when they crash into my car or eat all my bushes, I want to throttle the beasts. There are, in truth, far too many of them, not just in Cattaraugus County but in America. They are even infiltrating the Washington suburbs. And I suppose you can't blame them for being hungry.  I have a vague idea that the fact that you can't buy venison in the shops unless you shoot your own under severe restrictions, may have something to do with it. It's an arguable point that the deer are being protected to death.