Gayle and I struggled all through the winter without a single confirmed sighting of Lexi. Not that there were no deer in our fields, on the contrary we occasionally had herds of up 19 deer pass through. Was Lexi among them and if so why doesn't he just come home for the remainder of the winter.
Another hunting season had passed in late December and with it began our constant vigil to watch for one of his quick visits. There were none. Bucks had shed their antlers and from 100 yards it was impossible to identify our boy from the group.
We waited from Jan-May and still had no confirmation that our boy had survived another brutal, sparse winter.
We hoped that June of 2017 would repeat itself and that Lexi would reappear and spend the entire summer visiting Gayle 3-4 times a week. Not so and now it is mid July and we are desperate. Where is he?
The picture to the right, although grainy,
was taken July 15th. which I can only guess is the day Lexi decided to check in with Mom. He waited in the back of the field for Gayle to appear. As she entered the field, Lexi "grazed" his way closer as was his custom. Gayle slowly closed the distance and Lexi's body language changed in a way that usually indicated he would approach. Gayle , now twenty feet away, paused and softly called his name. As if by muscle memory Lexi lowered his head, wagged his tail and took three steps toward Mom.....but then he stopped suddenly and retreated several steps. Gayle again called his name and Just as before the head went down and the little trot to Gayle began.
He stopped again. Now it was clear the the battle that raged inside Lexi........was he still Mommy's little boy, or was he Lexi, the legendary Buck? Within seconds Lexi made his conscience decision. In a very dominate and athletic moment Lexi Loudly snorted at Mom, turned and trotted to the treeline. There he paused for a moment, turned to Gayle and starred briefly, before retreating into the woods.
Elation turned to despair, and for a moment both our hearts sank.
There is nothing to be sad about.
How much more successful could this story be? Before us stood our 200lb buck who could have not have been happier to fulfill his destiny as a dominant Buck. Our little 8lb fawn, rescued from the mouth of a coyote at just two days old and overcome every obstacle thrown at him. Lexi started out as a mid day coyote snack, successfully hid himself from two armed Wildlife Police..... taught himself to survive in our field through many, many summer nights alone......and in his first winter was able to re-unite himself with his real deer Mom. What a Deer!
We are soooo lucky to be a part of his amazing life and are very thankful for those occasional visits he makes to our field just to let us know he will never forget us.
It's 21/1/2018. Lexi came at 6:30 am into the field. We acknowledged each other for several minutes and then went about our lives.
I hope to publish more pictures, but I fear that actual contact is a thing of the past. It's what he needs to do.