Touching the Wild by Joe Hutto

Author:Joe Hutto
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2013-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Bubba in prime condition the day he was killed by a mountain lion.

Bubba, the next day.

Boar, alone at last.

Having somehow made it my business to observe these strange things, I find a need if not a responsibility to offer explanations. But I am helpless to speculate and simply wonder—is it fair to suspect that only the human heart is left aching?

Shadow

Late during our second winter with the deer, a strange doe showed up one cold day with three fawns at her side. Unusual among mule deer, but not unknown, not only are triplets rare; three surviving fawns of advanced age are truly extraordinary. The two doe fawns were tawny and gray like their mother, who had an unusual head shape that immediately brought the vision of an Australian koala to mind. The third fawn was a peculiar little buck that was distinctive in his contrast to the rest of the family. This small deer not only was somewhat of a runt but was also well defined by contrasting color patterns of dark and light. His head was also distinctive, with a bit of a pug nose and enormous black eyes that were filled with even more fear and insecurity than those of the other members of the family.

At first we saw the family only in the evenings after the other deer had left the area, and we would turn on a back porch light and the four would scatter out of the yard. Soon, they became less fearful and would remain in the yard with a few other deer. Leslye quickly assigned names to the distinctive family, and they became known as mother Koala and fawns Teddy, Bear, and Shadow. I identified Koala as a doe I had repeatedly watched in a winter herd to the east that had been overtaken by a rural housing development and was now nearing complete extinction. In need of mule deer society, Koala and family gradually spent more time in our herd’s company but were nevertheless obligated to return to the confusing and dangerous misfortune of their home winter range a mile and a half away—now a tangle of trailers, houses, fenced lots, driveways, backdoor bow hunters, and domestic dogs. Gradually the family left our herd less and less often, preferring to stay in the relative safety and plenty of the ranch.

Koala was an extraordinary mule deer, not only because of her large family but perhaps because the need to care for so many mouths had put heavy demands on her physically, and she was aware that things were not going well for her or her fawns. There was an unmistakable look of desperation in her eyes, and with a facial appearance that was absolutely adorable, she became an irresistible object of fascination. This doe made it clear that she was in need of some help; she knew that strange people were offering assistance, and she was smart enough to take advantage of a life-saving opportunity. In less than a month this deer made

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