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I want to introduce y’all to PEACHES. She is a female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as a doe. She resides on private land down in the beautiful Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg. Tracy and I first met Peaches about nine years ago. She was the first deer to come out into the opening behind the cabin. After she looked it over carefully, all the other deer came out to graze on the corn under the feeder.
As you probably noticed, there is something a little different about her. Tracy was the first one to notice her ears. The next morning, as the owner was filling up the bird feeders, I asked him about the doe with the funky ears. His reply was “Oh, that’s Peaches!”.
According to the landowner, Peaches showed up as mature deer about 10 years ago. We figure she’s around 12 years old or older now, making Her the matriarch of the herd, and an old lady as far as does go! When she appeared on the land, the owner noticed right away that there was something obviously wrong with her ears. He doesn’t know if they were cropped on purpose, or if it’s some kind of a birth defect. I can’t think of any reason why anyone would crop them, so I lean on the side of a birth defect. Either way, it doesn’t seem to hurt her ability to hear EVERYTHING.
Every time I would set up my Lenshide to get some photos, Peaches was always the first one to check it out. She would get just close enough to get a good sniff. She didn’t like it, but after some time, I was “allowed” to stay. She never took her eyes off of me though. As long as I didn’t move suddenly, she stayed calm. After some time, she even ignored the sound of the shutter firing off.
When we asked the landowner how she got her name, He laughed and told us that he has a peach tree in his front yard. Every morning when he would go outside; he would find her gobbling up the fresh ripe peaches off the tree. He would “shoo” her off, but the next morning she would be right back under the tree eating his peaches. He eventually had to put a fence around the tree to keep her out.
His wife felt sorry for her. Now, every time she makes peach cobbler for the family, she makes a special portion just for Peaches. I have seen Peaches enjoying her special treat. Man does she like cobbler!
Over the last few years, we have had the privilege to watch Peaches raise 2 fawns. When we went last October, we noticed she was pregnant again. We’re looking forward to our yearly visit to see Peaches with her new fawn.
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Until next time, keep the sun behind you and the birds in view.
David
Wonderful story David! I need one of those Lenshide blinds. Thanks for providing the link.