Not long ago, I shared the following on Facebook . . .
Rutting Season? (Is that sorta like Cuffing Season?)
How many of you know anything about “rutting season”? I’d never heard the term until last Friday when my morning walk was interrupted by the appearance of a buck. Yeah, you know, a male deer (aka those jokers with those horns on their heads). Given that it was barely 7:30 in the morning, and kind of overcast, I blinked a couple of times to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Yeah, it was a buck all right. And not only was he standing in the middle of the street in front of my house, he was staring straight at me and looking right perturbed.
Now, had it been a doe, I might have kept right on walking towards my house. But I’m not taking any chances with a creature that has horns growing out of its head, be it a deer, moose, elk, devil or what have you. I’m saying, I’ve already fallen once this year and dislocated a shoulder. The last thing I need is to be out in the middle of the doggone street trying to throw hands with a buck, if not run from one at 7:30 in the morning.
Can’t you hear that call to 911? “Um, yeah one of my neighbors--a tall, middle-aged Black woman, who looks like she could stand to lose a few pounds-- is rolling around in the street with what appears to be a deer. Yes, and you’d better hurry. Looks like the deer has her in a headlock.”
So, after hurriedly backtracking to the corner, I call the hubby and say, “There’s a buck standing out in front of our house.” Instead of saying, “Hold on honey, I’m coming to get you” this man heads for the front door and starts asking a bunch of questions. And even has the nerve to tell me he doesn’t see any dang buck and yada, yada, yada.” I was like, “Man, if you don’t stop yacking and come and get my behind off this corner . . .”
After arriving safely back home is when I discovered that Mr. Buck was now hanging out in our backyard and trying to woo a shy Miss Doe, who he’d obviously pursued there. On sharing the story with my son, he was like, “Oh, so what you’re saying Ma, is that our backyard was the hook-up spot!” Ah, yeah, whatever. I’m not trying to have a bunch of amorous deer all up in the bushes in my backyard. Take that mess on somewhere else.
Anyway, since then, I’ve learned that it’s rutting season--the time of year in these parts that deer commonly mate. So, guess who won’t be going out on her morning walk for a while? In the meantime, I’ve added a walking stick, a can of mace and a whistle to my Christmas list.
The screen and the blinds on the window kept me from getting a clear picture. And you’d best believe dude (aka Mr. Buck) was straight up mean-mugging me the whole time I was trying to snap this shot.
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