Our yard on Rico Road has become a haven for White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Going up the driveway around sunset, I sometimes find half a dozen deer about. This time of year, I will often glimpse one or two hanging out beneath our pear tree, undoubtedly waiting for the pears to ripen. Lately, I have seen spotted fawns in the front yard. For all that, though, I have rarely seen deer along Piney Woods Church Road. Tonight, at last, almost as an afterthought — I had already taken plenty of photos on my walk, plus spent half an hour chatting with a friend who lives along the road — I glimpsed a pair of deer in a roadside pasture. By the time my camera was at the ready, the closer of the two was already preparing to flee. Still, the result is a pleasant image — and, at long last, deer are included among the Piney Woods Church images. There are so few wild mammal photographs out of the 187 so far. I can think of only one other photograph, in fact — and Eastern Gray Squirrel. Insects tend to be slower and more willing to sit still.
