Our little town just might possibly have a higher deer population than people population, so they do tend to be everywhere. But our old house had a tiny yard - and a very big fence around most of what yard there was - so we just didn't see them each and every day. Now? Well, the deer are pretty much always here. Most of the time if I look out the window and start counting I get to double digits before I start really looking. They blend in to their surroundings very well, so I'm sure that most of the time there are more in the yard than I realize.
Sometimes we still get a little surprised when one gets really close. Our basement is a walk-out and the windows down there are right at ground level, if that makes sense. So if a deer comes close to a basement window when someone is down there, it can be a face-to-face event. This happened recently when the girls had some friends over. There was a lot of squealing, let me tell you. I think that when they come so close to the house, I'm mostly startled by how large they are. Normally they sit 20 or 30 feet from the house and seem the size of a large dog, but when a full-grown buck walks up to the kitchen window while I'm doing dishes, I get to see just how huge he is.
The girls have grown accustomed to the deer. One of them may take notice when there is a large group right outside her bedroom window, but mostly, the excitement is over. When we first moved in, however, the two little girls were out daily trying to catch one so they could ride it. It was a great game for them. And we were never terribly concerned about them actually catching one.
Mark doesn't find the deer as sweet as I do. He's probably wise. Right now, in the dead of Winter, they aren't harming anything. But I won't be so charmed by them in the Spring and Summer if they show up to eat my flowers and vegetables. Good thing they generally head back up into the mountains when Spring arrives.
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