HERD ABOUT IT?

by ana grarian

It was warm and humid as I headed out with the dog at 4:30 this morning. When we reached the corner a cool breeze was blowing up from town. It’s about as warm as it is supposed to get all day, and we have more rain coming in. It was still mostly quiet so the dog and I took our coffee and toast on the porch.

Walking serenely up the hill came two deer. Alert for danger, noses and ears twitching, they walked up the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The air must have been coming from behind them, because even as I moved to get a better view, the lead doe just stopped and looked at me. She didn’t seem to express any alarm, more like curiosity.

I was treated to an adorable scene. I wish my camera phone was more sophisticated. Our neighbors cat was sitting on their front stoop. The second deer went over to investigate, and for several moments I was entertained by the deer sniffing at and being sniffed by the cat. The cat arched his back, stretching not in fear or anger, strolled under the deer’s nose, curling his tail around it, and strolled into the back yard. The deer followed.

I guess this is not all that unusual, as I easily came up with many images when I searched for ‘deer kissing cat’, like this post, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it, and it was a lovely start to my day.