How are the Twins?

  The twin fawns are still hanging around, and relying primarily on each other. One is clearly larger than the other. I don't know if that suggests the larger one is a little buck or not. They are surely growing slower than fawns that have a mama. But they seem to be doing OK.

This is the smaller one.

They have almost no fear of me, unless I try to get closer than about 20 feet. They clearly own my yard. This is the larger one. I had to look closely, because it's usually the little one that comes closer to the house, but it was the other way around when I took these pictures.

I've seen an adult doe with them twice, but she never stays. I wonder if they will herd up with others this fall by instinct, or if that is something a mother would have taught them. Right now, they clearly prefer their own company.

I also wonder if their too-early in life diet of pure grass has left them more than usually vulnerable/weakened. The smaller one often lies down in the yard. Ordinarily, deer spend a lot of time in the yard, but they are too wary to lie down so close to a human space.

They are totally adorable, but I'm pretty hard-hearted about deer-- we have WAY too many, and they eat everything in sight.

In other news: I edited, I wrote half a chapter and figured out how to deal with a big plot hole problem I discovered yesterday. I cleaned the kitchen and did a little yard work. Not too exciting.

See Sad Baby Stories?