Rudy’s Return

Well, the four point buck who dropped by Hideaway Pond several days ago has returned. Not once, but five days in a row. It almost seems he never left. And I guess he hasn’t. We have dubbed him “Rudolf”. Not much of a testimonial to our nominative skills. But apropos of the season, I suppose. Perhaps we should have asked for his opinion.

We find Rudolf grazing on the front lawn every morning. Undeterred by our presence, he often remains for the entire day. We aren’t sure if he beds down here for the night. But he has grazed in the front yard several times until after dark. Apparently not partial to darkness, he has twice lain down in the rock garden during broad daylight and fallen asleep.

The Hideaway may be Rudolf’s refuge. Deer season came in this week. Sadly, there’s little we can do to influence his fate if he wanders out of our small critter haven. Hunting has been in the natural order of things since we apex predators were beating mastodons about the head and ears with ox bones. But we hope Rudolf will be safe.

Lo and behold, as I was about to put a period at the end of this sentence, I caught motion in the corner of my eye through a window. He’s back. Our lawn must be a part of the cervidaen food group. Grass. Bushels of grass. One wonders how Santa feels about riding a sleigh behind eight of these guys.

But the day now moves on. The last long rays of evening sun are lighting the highest peaks of the Catskills. Night will soon settle in. And mighty Erebus will quietly reign until morning.