fawn surprise

One afternoon I saw a doe resting under an apple tree in my front yard. I thought to myself, "This would be a good weekend to get a wildlife photo."

So early Sunday morning I crawled out of bed before sunup. After gulping down a cup of coffee, showering in unscented soap and donning camouflage clothing I headed out with my camera hoping to photograph some wildlife. After spending a long time seated under a tree I was hungry. I dug an energy bar out of my pocket and started eating. While eating I happened to glance over my shoulder and there about thirty-five feet away was a little fawn standing up to stretch her legs! I had to put the zoom lens to my eye in order to convince myself that I wasn't seeing things. She had been lying there at the base of a tree all along and would have remained quite invisible had she not stood up. In my haste to photograph her I let the energy bar drop to the ground. This sent the local ant population into fits of joy.

The fawn may have sensed that she was not alone because she stood watching and listening with those oversized ears for quite some time before she lay back down. Lucky for me she was looking in the wrong direction.

She may have remained in her hiding place until her mother came to retrieve her but a truck drove by. I thought it was interesting that she jumped up and ran across the road after the truck passed. She probably ran a very short way and lay down again to hide.