It's Lone Star, the deer my in-laws took in and nursed this summer. He's a big boy now--notice how he's lost his spots.
My in-laws have encouraged him to leave and let him out of his summer holding pen when the deer in the neighborhood came by. A couple of times he joined the crew, but he's not stupid. My in-laws are great cooks and fed him quite well during his stay. The normal grass he was forced to eat with his deer family was not to his linking. And apparently, he's let the other deer know. Most mornings an entire herd of deer are hanging out in the backyard. I never saw them but then again I walked out each morning with a dog very interested in the deer's scent.
So Lone Star became a boomerang deer. The deer is quite skittish around people now--no more leash walks, and he has moved on from his childhood pal, Coco, the chocolate lab, to more "wild" animals. He now lives in the pen with my niece's latest FFA lamb, Trick or Treat. (Want to guess when she got him? I guess he's a she but it seems so indelicate to look).
Before the deer returned home, my in-laws got the new lamb a new companion. Lambs don't thrive as solitary animals. The previous lamb's companion lamb went with it to the um, well, that place animals go to become meat for us. Gulp. Really makes me consider becoming a vegetarian.Some neighbors gave them this guy (or girl, again, I didn't check). My sister-in-law said he's a Cashmere goat. When I looked up these goats, they seem to have straight hair. Maybe it's the humidity giving this guy the curls?
In the past my brother-in-law has encouraged me to let our dog loose in the pen to exercise the animals. But the new lamb is quite big in comparison to the previous lambs and the goat has these:
I don't think the dog cared. She was very busy,
In the end, I think all is well in the animal kingdom, also known as the suburbs of Houston.
It's wild kingdom over there. Good lord, imagine our neighbors if we had a lamb and deer in the backyard. Homeowner's Association action, anyone? But it looks fun.
ReplyDeleteBonnie is so right it is animal kingdom over there! It will be interesting to see what happens as Lone Star continues to grow! Gail
ReplyDeleteI've known several people with deer like Lone Star through the years[my mother included] and most came to an untimely end. I can only hope for the best with theirs. My mothers ate some hanging basket type plants and keeled over. Another walked up to some dogs, as the only dogs it had ever known were nice, and they killed it. Another became a sexually tormented non herd deer and was shot while "attacking" a lady.
ReplyDeleteBut I have known of a few that made it so here's hoping for a long an healthy for Lone Star.