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 animals. My

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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