Where the Deer and the Antelope (?) Play

This week I walked into my office and saw several deer,

including one fawn, grazing in the wide open field behind my office building.

fawn photo, morguefile.com

The field has thick trees and brush on both sides. 

At each end, massive office buildings form a barrier.

A small creek, barely visible under tall grass, 

cuts across the southern end of the field.

It is a perfect place for the deer to feed and soak up the sun.

A photo I took last year of the deer.

So I stood there and watched them for awhile.

Something about seeing wildlife going about their day 

is so relaxing. It makes us stop what we are doing

and enjoy a brief moment of quietude.

I went about my work and as I was preparing to leave for the day,

I looked out the window. 

No deer.

Suddenly, one ran from the grove of trees on the right.

He hurried across the meadow to the safety of the other stand of trees.

And then another one ran across.

And another.

All together, one-by-one, seven deer ran across the field as fast as they could.

I wondered if they were escaping a predator
although I can't imagine what,
since there aren't any that I know of there in the woods.

photo, morguefile.com

We could make guesses, 

but it seems peculiar to me that each deer ran alone across the grass

instead of all together in a group.

It reminded me of that old game we used to play as kids:

Red rover, red rover, we dare <Name> over.

Of course the game requires one side to link arms 

and stop the runner from breaking through the line.

And of course, deer would never do that.

But then again, who knows what they were doing under the cover of the trees?

Spring can make everyone a little silly.

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