The Deer from Hell

My little dog and I set out for our evening walk and came across this pair, probably the same twins from my previous post. I'm sure mama deer wasn't far and they craned their necks at us as we passed by, not even bothering to go into the bush. My little dog seems always to attract the interest of other animals. For her part, she doesn't like deer and makes very sure that I am between them and her.

That would be because she remembers being attacked by just such a mama deer, with twins, in the very same location some years ago. There we were, minding our own business, walking down the hill as we do every evening. I'd seen the newborn twins ahead --- aww, so cute!-- and given them a minute or so to disappear into the bush before proceeding. The dog appeared to not even notice them. I'd thought the coast was clear.

To our utter amazement, mama deer came barreling out of the bush, bleating furiously. She straddled my small dog and began stomping her feet in an angry tattoo, evidently trying to crush my horrified pup. Shock and awe doesn't even begin to describe my reaction. Hey, we were totally minding our own business!

I rushed to the rescue, somehow snatching the dog from the hooves of doom. Mama deer did not give up. She continued to rush at us, still bleating -- I'd had no idea deer could make sounds like that -- with slobbery foam flying off her muzzle. She'd literally worked herself into a lather. We beat a retreat back up the hill to the safety of the house. She'd back into the bush momentarily, only to come flying out at us wild-eyed with renewed fury. She was the Deer from Hell.

Luckily we were physically unscathed, but emotionally? To this day, our small dog gives deer of any size, a very wide berth.