What's Wrong With This Picture?

Is it the well-mulched and damp-looking soil that would be oh so rare in Austin this summer?

Is it the blooming daylily in the photo, signaling that this plant is obviously not in my dirt patch yard?

Or is it that I was able to get so close to this baby deer?

Maybe another photo will help you.
















Ah, yes, it must be the harness and leash on the fawn.

My brother-in-law was working when he saw a dead mother deer by the road and heard whimpering sounds nearby. The noise was coming from the deer's baby. Despite his gruff cowboy exterior, my brother-in-law is a softy at heart and took the fawn home.

Since then, he and my sister-in-law have nursed the fawn back to health, taught it how to poop (apparently this is not an automatic thing), and are trying to teach it how to forage.

Hence, the lily offered up as an appetizer. When Lone Star didn't seem too interested in the yellow beauty, my sister-in-law offered up her hostas. She figured if the adult deers loved them, so would the fawn. Talk about sacrifice.

















The harness and leash are only to keep the fawn around when he forages until he's old enough and strong enough to join the herds of deer already in the neighborhood. He sleeps outside in a fenced-in area next to the pool equipment. The family dog, Coco, a chocolate lab, often sleeps in there with him.

















He will be joining his animal family soon. It's the right thing to do, but it will be hard to see this cute guy go.