Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Walks

Eyes wide open

I first noticed them last Tuesday. There were four of them. On Wednesday there were five, then eight on Thursday and nine yesterday.

It took a fresh fall of snow for me to open my eyes.

deer-in-snow.jpg

I've been doing the same walk first thing in the morning for much of the past six months. It's become very familiar, but last Tuesday's snowfall transformed the scenery. Besides naturally turning everything white, it revealed that I'd been the first human along the path that morning. A little while later I saw the animal footprints, and following their trail into the field I saw the deer.

Here just before the track dives into the woods then crosses the thundering motorway, I've seen a small herd of deer hidden in the hollow of a field every time I've walked this way since.

Have they always been there? It's only in the past week or so that the lengthening day has meant it's been light enough to walk this way without a torch. Do they overnight in the field then take cover in the woods during the day?

For now I'll look out for them each morning. And I'll remember to open my eyes a little more on this wakening walk.

Posted by pab at 20:55 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!