A Porch of My Own

A Porch of My Own

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The Ghost of Christmas Present

Her leg was broken and dangling, near where it joined her body. She was frightened by our vehicle and trying desperately to jump the fence. It was her left front leg and she kept trying to stand on it to spring over the fence. Each time she would fall and then move further down the fence line looking for a hole to go through. We slowed almost to a stop to keep from stressing her further. She finally found a hole and disappeared.

She looked to be in bad shape and a lot of pain. Living close to nature as we do, you see a lot of suffering. Most of the time you can't help. We can't feed enough to keep the deer alive during a drought. There are too many and not enough money. We provide water and we put out a little corn for the deer year round and milo for the turkeys. We feed the birds. We put food scraps out for the foxes and small animals. 

But when you see a deer suffering like this you can sometimes end it's suffering. Rickie saw it a couple of days later and she looked worse. He made the decision to shoot her the next time he saw her. 

Our friends Scott and Martha came over for dinner the next day and Scott said he had seen what looked like a pool of blood in the road in front of our place. We told him about the deer we had seen and wondered if it was from her.

Sarah and Bixby came over Christmas Eve and spent the night; Justin had to work and couldn't come. Bixby had fun learning to be a ranch hand. He liked the Mule, both helping to drive it and dancing in the bed of it. He also thought the flat bed trailer was good for running. He helped feed the longhorns and the fish and birds. He was a good hand and that's the best compliment you can get on a ranch.

We had a turkey dinner and opened some presents and the kids tried the bunkhouse on for size. They left this morning ahead of the blue norther that is blowing in now. We're gonna have some mighty cold weather the next few nights. 

After they left Rickie saw the injured doe by the feeder. She had lost the broken leg at the shoulder. She was eating some corn and having a little trouble keeping her balance but she looked better than she had. We are thinking she probably got the damaged leg ripped off crossing the fence and the blood in the road was hers. 

We've had a three-legged doe living here in the past. A friend named her Tripod and she lived for many years, raising a baby each year.  Everyone watched out for her and gave her the respect she deserved for her toughness and the daily battle she fought. Scott and Martha had one by them also that they called Stubbette and she too had and raised babies. A couple of years ago a mountain lion got her.

As we watched the newly created three legged doe, Rickie said to me "well, what do you think? Leave her be?" I agreed. With losing the leg she has a much better chance to make it. She may or may not survive but she's not going down without a fight. That's what it takes. 

We decided to call her Trinity.


5 comments:

  1. Everything has to be just a little bit tougher out there. I hope she makes it as well as the other deer have. Merry Christmas to y'all.

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  2. Yes, it's a hard life for them most of the time. Merry Christmas to you and your family also.

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  3. My son just adopted a 3 legged cat. Trying to think of a name other than Tripod or Lucky... I suggested Doris.

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  4. Sue will you please resend your address, I got sick with a nasty cold and am just now back to feeling good, I need to ship your prize you won on my blog. thank you
    Brenda

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  5. Brenda, just sent you an email. Take care of yourself and no rush on mailing that!

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