“What You Can Learn from a Deer” by Joan Y. Edwards
In 1990 when I went to visit my sister, Judith Thomson, she told me that Indians chose different animals to be their teachers. To teach them something that would help them survive in life. These could be animals that you see often or sometimes an animal might show up only once. I believe you are allowed to choose nine animals to be your guides during life. They may change with your experiences and needs. One of the animals I chose was a deer.
A deer keeps calm even when facing the enemy. A deer is graceful and can walk or run with ease. A deer only eats what he needs. The mother deer looks after her young. The male has antlers to add to his protection. Each winter the antlers are shed. New ones emerge.
I actually got to touch a fawn that Judith’s friend found and raised after its parents were killed. It had a strong musky smell to it.
Carl and I found deer in the Grand Canyon. If they were eating and noticed you. They have a keen sense of hearing. The muscles in their ears enables them to turn their ears in any direction to evaluate sounds. They can hear higher frequencies than humans. Unless they sense danger from you, they take a good look at you and keep on eating.
Deer have good night vision which enables them to get around well during the early hours of the day or at dusk.
One day there were deer in our backyard. Woods about 5 miles away had been cut down to build new homes. The deer were searching for food. I didn’t have any bushes or flowers they liked, so they went on. It was funny. Pat, a lady who helped me take care of Mother said, “Do you always have deer in your back yard?”
I said, “No.”
I didn’t have my camera handy. The deer zoomed across the yard in a hurry. I told them, “Come back. I want to take your picture.” I went and got my camera and came back to the window. Low and behold, seven of them came back and let me take their picture. Then they took off to greener pastures in our neighborhood. There were 9 altogether. I only got a picture of 7 at one time.
When I was little, the first movie I saw was Bambi. I hated the fire and the fact that the hunter killed the deer.
I hope you have animals, people, or objects to teach you what you need to survive. Please leave a comment telling me about your favorite animal and what you’ve learned from it. The Indians believed that animals were there to teach you a life lesson. I think that’s a good way to look at life.
You can add animals to a story to teach your main character a lesson to get him to his goal. You can search for an animal that has a lesson to teach you about survival, too.
To learn more about deer, you might want to look at the following:
- Jim Arnosky. All about Deer: http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Deer-Series/dp/0439058740
- Walt Disney. Bambi:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736423087/
- Wanda Embar http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_facts/Deer.htm
Copyright 2012 © Joan Y. Edwards