Right before this last full moon I had two incredible deer encounters in the park. First I met a large stag standing alone in the area I usually frequent. The next time, I met his whole herd.

They were bedded down in the moonlight, so I stayed on the pavement facing them, a little awestruck. Again- I could only make out the larger shapes of the adults as I began warming up for my qi gong routine. One of the warm-ups has me balancing on one foot circling my ankles and wrists- it must’ve looked pretty funny. I could feel them observing me, curious. Like they knew normal human behaviors, but suddenly here I was, twirling about oddly while facing them. They must’ve thought, “This one’s crazy. She could do anything.”

I saw them quietly get up…three, four, then twice that- perhaps ten in total. It was surreal. They moved slowly towards the playground on the opposite corner, all in silhouette. I thought about going into the grass eventually to finish, but noticed a buck had stayed behind to protect the herd. He’d moved to a darker area away from the moonlight and was watching me closely.

He was about fifteen feet away. That’s pretty close….and my was he attentive! I didn’t want to get charged. Nope. No thank you. It felt like he was mostly curious, but I was definitely getting that slight warning vibe. Like- we’re peaceful, but I do mean business.

So I, well….I felt bad. I love them and wanted them to stay. It was such a beautiful night and it felt like I’d intruded. My fanciful notion of trying out my animal communication skills went out the window with the vibe I was getting. I couldn’t see him well, if at all, nor could I guage whether he’d be receptive, so I left.

This turned out to be a great idea as I’ve since learned it’s mating season right now. Don’t want to interfere with that!