The Deer Essay, Research Paper
The Deer
It was the middle of summer in a small town called Harvey, in the city
of Marquette, Michigan. The road (driveway) to my families cabin is
really long it takes about a half-hour just to get to the cabin. Our
camp is a very little, quaint, one bedroom in the middle of the woods.
There is a creek the flows around our land, which is about 8 acres.
About a half a mile away there is a rundown cabin that we call
?Jack?s house?. My dad always said that there was an old man Jack,
who lived there. He would tell us that Jack would watch us at night
while we were asleep. Supposedly there was a rumor that he ate
humans and animals for survival.
He even told us that there were bears all surrounding us, but I never
actually saw one. We usually go there on weekends during the
summer for a vacation away from the city, but sometimes we end up
staying longer. There isn?t really much to do out there, so if we don?t
go to town, we go to Presque Isle Island near our camp. It is located
in Marquette, Michigan, on Lake Superior, which is one of the coldest
and biggest of the five Great Lakes. There are large rocks out there
that we climb called Black Rocks. Besides the rocks there are a
couple of parks with swings and slides, and a nature path that has a
few site lookouts. It is so peaceful out there that all you can hear
are the sounds of nature.
As I pulled up in my car, I stopped and began to get out to go for a
walk on the nature trail. As I looked up, I saw the deer. There was
something about the way his helpless eyes gazed at me. I slowly
started to approach him. It looked as if he had no hope for his life
left. His hair was very thin but rough around his neck and legs. There
was dried up blood above his left eye it seemed as if he were in a
harmful fight with another deer recently. I slowly and calmly
continued to walk towards him trying, as much as possible, not to
frighten him in any way.
? It?s ok, I won?t hurt you. I want to try to help you live and be
healthy.? I said.
As I got closer to him I could see felt covering two bumps on the top
of his head. It was his antlers, which were just beginning to grow for
his own protection and survival during the bitter cold winter that lay
ahead of him. His body was extremely thin and fragile. I could not
distinguish if he was very old, young or just sick. I gradually placed
my hand out in front of his nose so he could smell me, as you would
for a cat or dog. I had this weird feeling inside, a feeling of love and
warmth. For some reason he trusted me more than anyone else. I
thought maybe there was something that he knew about me.
I had never seen or even been this close to any wild animal in the
woods or the city like this. I was used to being around some domestic
animals, not deer. My mom, my brother, and my boyfriend all tried to
approach the deer, but it would back away, as if it was frightened of
them but not of me. My whole life I have always loved an
dream, ever since I was a little girl, was to help animals in any way
that I could, even if I was just brushing my dogs? teeth, or clipping
my cats? nails. I don?t know how some men and women could ever
want to hurt these innocent animals by hunting them for food or
pleasure. They are a living and breathing mammal that is here for a
reason, just as you and me are. The deer seemed content with me. I
must have had some thing about me that made him feel this way.
After he sniffed my hand for awhile, he brushed his body against my
side softly.
It was amazing the way he felt so comfortable with me, like no other
animal has before. He totally trusted me for some reason, and I don?t
know why. I bent over and picked some weeds from off of the ground
so I could feed him. After he finished licking my hand, he watched me
to make sure I kept giving him more and more to eat. He inhaled it so
quickly, as if he hadn?t eaten in awhile. Step by step, I grabbed some
more weeds and other greens to feed him. I tried to walk away after
about fifteen minutes of feeding him, but he would follow me
wherever I would go. He didn?t want me to go and if he had to he
would follow me everywhere. He even followed me onto the lookout
site. I called him and snapped my fingers to try to get his attention
so I could get him off of it. As he walked behind me I would pull and
bend the branches of trees he couldn?t reach down, so he could eat
the leaves off of them. As the leaves gradually started to be scarce,
I saw this lady back in the depth of the woods with four original deer
and one albino deer around her. I walked up to her. She had about
three buckets filled with corn. She said she fed the deer everyday
through all of the season, whether it was very hot or extremely cold.
The lady gave me a bucket to feed the one that had been following
me. I knelt on the grass and he sat next to me while I hand fed him
for about another hour. As much as I wanted to stay there with him
forever, I knew I couldn?t.
I don?t really know why the deer acted this way towards me. I must
have made him feel very secure and content with me. Some people
think I have an aura about me that somehow attracts animals to love
and trust me so much. Animals make me feel so good about myself.
They always seem to make me feel good about myself. I feel they
actually know I am on this earth for someone or some reason. My
dream was to be a veterinarian for large animals such as this. Until
about four months ago I worked in a veterinary hospital to get field
experience. While I was working there I had a major allergy attack
and was in the hospital. They said there is really no way I could ever
be a veterinarian and be happy. If I did decide to be a veterinarian, I
would either be miserable, or be on medication all of the time. I now
try to find a way to be around animals without being a vet. Such as I
go to Presque Isle just to visit the deer and other little creatures out
there.
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