Look who is at the *bird* feeder

I think she was looking for a cat.

Their thick fur looks warms and cozy. Their big brown eyes stare intently, watching my every move.

furry beast

I bundled up to go out and fill up the bird feeders. Instead, I had 4-footed friends.

They were hoping for a handout.
I disappointed them! I only had bird seed!

None of the does (doh - a deer?) have brought their young 'uns out to see us that past summer, not until winter arrived. Although, we did see them by the side of the road in summer. We have

A drive-by shooting!

regularly had two cautious adult females and one yearling all fall. They have been around quite a bit.
They wander about, nipping at my lilac tree buds, grazing in my garden, and picking at the wild grapes branches in the ditch.

Suddenly, with winter here, there have been 7 - 9 of them hanging about. They keep their distance.  Wary when I go out to feed my birds. Until today.

They must be Liberals, or Senators, with a sense of entitlement. I owe them. They expect handouts. Hand them over!

They can be wicked with each other, as they move about, whacking away with those strong legs at wee ones in their way.

I'm not afraid, as they are wary of people. They even seem to know the difference between me, riding my lawn mower down the driveway in summer (they just stare at me) and a stranger, let alone a stranger's car in the driveway.

Tigger got himself a hurt early in his first year (2011)

Likely a piece of fence

Truthfully, Tigger was the only one we could really tell apart from the others by his behaviour. Most of the fawns are about the same size at this time of year. Except for one wee runt, actually. A late birth. Most of the females are about the same size. There was one mother who would only let her twins feed at the feeder while she was there. She's whack away at the others, with another 5 waiting their turn. They had some great food fights. They seldom draw blood, and all agree on the winner! 

Whack! 

We can tell them by their groups. Deer winter in a yard together. All summer I've only seen one doe. I'd walk the cats around the frog pond, and she'd bound up out and away! Scaring both of us!

Yes?

This afternoon, near dusk, lo, and behold, but there were both my boys! In the past few days we have noticed Tigger, and his brother. They are turning into fine young bucks! Someone asked why we didn't name his sibling, but that really is a bad thing to do, or so they say in all the wildlife rehabilitation facilities. You shouldn't get that attached, but it is fun figuring out who was visiting. I never even thought of naming Tigger's twin. 

Jolanta Kowalski (MNR) estimates there are 400,000 deer in Ontario. Many are congregated in winter yards, like ours. We have many corridors, where people simply must be vigilant and low dow to avoid injuries and incidents.

We've seen many carcasses on the side of the road. The story doesn't always end well for the driver.

Airborne deer hits car, kills man on Christmas Day (2013)

There were 6 incidents in Leeds County. In November, 2011, there were 10 collisions in 24 hours.