Back to nature
The coolest thing happened to me Saturday.
Every Saturday morning, weather permitting, I go walking in the forest preserve near my house. I go on the horse trails and rarely see anyone, even people on horses. As much as I enjoy the solitude, it would be nice to see other people enjoying nature like me. Hundreds of thousands of people live in the area, and I have to wonder what they are doing.
There are lots of deer there; I see them all the time. It's public land, but there is no hunting allowed. I've been within 15 feet of deer, just coming around a bend in the trail and one is right there. Anyways,it's rutting season, and I saw a small tree off the trail that a buck had marked with his antlers (scraped the bark off). I hadn't seen that for years, so I went up and rubbed it with my gloved hand and looked it over.
I went up the trail about a 100 yards and I met a couple on horseback I've seen a few times. We exchanged greetings, and the man said:
"Do you know there is a deer following you?"
????????
I turned around, and about a 150 feet back was a doe standing on the trail.
It was so neat! Bucks have scent glands in their heads, and it passes onto the tree when they rub it. It must have gotten on my glove, and I was upwind from this doe, so....
But wait, there's more!
On the way back, I saw a beautiful buck, must have been about an 8 pointer, chasing a doe. I watched them and kind of followed a bit, trying to get a better view of him, because he was really magnificent.
Guess who was behind me again?
This time she was about 50 feet back, sizing me up. I thought I should try to make friends, so I stood still for a while, then slowly walked up. Of course, she ran off before I got to close, but....
Wow, just wow.
I am so blessed to live near such a wonderful place.
Baruch HaShem.
Every Saturday morning, weather permitting, I go walking in the forest preserve near my house. I go on the horse trails and rarely see anyone, even people on horses. As much as I enjoy the solitude, it would be nice to see other people enjoying nature like me. Hundreds of thousands of people live in the area, and I have to wonder what they are doing.
There are lots of deer there; I see them all the time. It's public land, but there is no hunting allowed. I've been within 15 feet of deer, just coming around a bend in the trail and one is right there. Anyways,it's rutting season, and I saw a small tree off the trail that a buck had marked with his antlers (scraped the bark off). I hadn't seen that for years, so I went up and rubbed it with my gloved hand and looked it over.
I went up the trail about a 100 yards and I met a couple on horseback I've seen a few times. We exchanged greetings, and the man said:
"Do you know there is a deer following you?"
????????
I turned around, and about a 150 feet back was a doe standing on the trail.
It was so neat! Bucks have scent glands in their heads, and it passes onto the tree when they rub it. It must have gotten on my glove, and I was upwind from this doe, so....
But wait, there's more!
On the way back, I saw a beautiful buck, must have been about an 8 pointer, chasing a doe. I watched them and kind of followed a bit, trying to get a better view of him, because he was really magnificent.
Guess who was behind me again?
This time she was about 50 feet back, sizing me up. I thought I should try to make friends, so I stood still for a while, then slowly walked up. Of course, she ran off before I got to close, but....
Wow, just wow.
I am so blessed to live near such a wonderful place.
Baruch HaShem.