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Sunday, November 29, 2020

True Story About Junior

 When we first moved to our cabin 23+ years ago I was out cleaning up limbs around the house so we could get around without tripping. As I gathered them over 2-3 days there was a doe with two very small fawns with her that would follow me around. I would talk to her and apparently she like to be talked to so she followed me around. I would tell her how adorable her fawns were as they ran all around us. 

I would see her later also and would talk to her and her fawns and then she was gone for a couple years. One day I was looking out the back window and I saw this buck standing at the fence looking first at me then at the bird feeder. I went outside and asked him if he wanted some bird seed and I headed down the stairs to get a cup full. I turned around and he was right behind me and so I held the cup out and he ate the seed. I soon realized that he and the other buck with him were the two fawns that hung around when we first moved here. 

He would come around frequently. He had another buck with him and they came together and also loved Fuji apples. He would follow me around or walk by my side. During the rut he would be gone for a couple days and then come back totally tuckered out and lay down just outside the fence. I would walk past him and he would look up and then go right back to sleep. 

I  would rub his nose and he would make mewing sounds and I would pick ice balls off his head and occasionally ticks. We called him Junior. I would tell him to stay close to the house during hunting season and he actually did. When he was about 12 years old he failed to come back the following year. It was two years later that he came back and again I was working outside and he walked right up to me. He was getting old then and I think he came back to tell me goodbye. He had a pretty good sized herd with him and clearly was the buck in charge.  

If anyone else came by to visit he would disappear from sight and when they had gone he would be right back again. Junior and myself shared many good times together and I still find myself watching for his return. He had some pretty distinct markings and antler formation and when I see a young buck with similar markings I always wonder if he may be one of Juniors offspring. 

Having a relationship like I had with Junior is rare and something that won't happen again. He has been gone several years now but I still find myself on occasion looking for Junior. This was a unique relationship because Junior actually adopted me and not the other way around. 

2 comments:

Caddie said...

I consider your experience truly wonderful and amazng. As the years pass I've learned there can be much communication between humans and animals; makes me ponder what our future holds, probably miracles!

Anonymous said...

Animals are so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this story.