Deer, Deer, Deer

Deer1I was driving along, minding my own business, when I looked up and saw this.

In case you can’t tell what it is, it’s a deer. Probably a doe, though it could be a young buck. I didn’t see any horns or antlers or whatever it is that boy deer have on their heads, and I didn’t see any Bambi spots, so I kinda sorta think it’s a doe.

Deer2I stopped the car, of course, because I’d rather look at a deer than be on time. She looked back at me, decided my camera wasn’t some kind of camouflaged boom-stick, and this happened.

Deer3And then this.

I do have a video thing on my camera that takes about 13 seconds of video, which would have been plenty of time for this, but I use it so seldom I didn’t even think about it.

Here are some fun factoids about venison, which we do not eat.

  • Food historian Waverly Root writes that “venison” refers to any mammalian game animal, but most of us think of deer when we hear the word, so that’s what it means here.
  • Deer as we know them were around before we were, and people have been hunting and eating deer ever since we showed up. Deer was hunted and eaten in China, Borneo, France, Persia, Germany, Switzerland (I mean, of course, the lands where these countries would later be defined)–all over the world.
  • During the European Middle Ages, the king reserved all game animals for himself and his lords (and poaching flourished).
  • Many manuscripts were devoted to The Hunt–instructions, descriptions, fictions and allegories.
  • Women were not barred from The Hunt, though it was more common for them to be part of the social aspect of the occasion.
  • Although deer are prolific, there is a very small commercial market for venison. In the USA, hunters are forbidden to sell their kills, but many of them donate venison to food banks. Charlie saw some nibbling at his blueberries this spring–deer, not hunters–and I thought WE were going to be making a donation.

We really have to watch out for deer on the road, which I’m happy to do, unless there’s a speed demon riding my tail, hustling me to drive faster, dammit. When that happens, I grit my teeth and keep my speed down, hoping I don’t get caught between a buck and a truck. So far, so good.

I’m posting today at Fatal Foodies about two-ingredient recipes.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character is caught between something pressing them from behind and blocking them from before.

MA
p.s. Sekrit messidge to Jane: It’s September 10. Do you know where YOUR werewolf is today?

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Deer, Deer, Deer

  1. Jane

    September 10, 2013 at 8:31am

    😉
    Do you think Goober is practicing to be a werewolf? When he races around hollering?
    Happy September 10th to you, too.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      September 10, 2013 at 8:38am

      “Even the cat whose heart is pure” (talk about an oxymoron)
      “and says his prayers by night” (yeah, right)
      “may turn into a VOLFF
      ven de volff-bane blooms and de mooon is full and bright.”
      — Marya Ouspenskaya

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply

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