Picnic On The Knoll

Catching sight of Daisy with her twin fawns can be quite a feat these days. Most of the time, I only see Daisy alone, grazing on various types of browse. Right now, she is a milk-making machine that needs its fuel! So yes, I have spent many long hours walking with Daisy and hoping to catch sight of the twins, only to be led on a wild goose chase that ends far too often with Daisy lying down to chew her cud. All of that walking around through the woods, and I just end up tired, hot, and insect bitten!

Always on the move and eating along the way, the main focus of Daisy’s days is about being a protective and nurturing mother. It is possible, I guess, that this is the real purpose to all of Daisy’s meandering about. Maybe these wanderings are actually her “patrol” time, for investigating new scent and monitoring predators and other visitors to the area. She is also very secretive and careful about approaching her babies when it is nursing time, so I consider myself lucky when I manage to catch her with one fawn or the other. And when I do, it is never about her taking me to them, but more about me accidentally spotting Daisy’s movement off in some trees or weeds that allows me to stumble upon them.

One recent afternoon, I caught Daisy letting the fawns run and play on the buggy path that winds through the woods up top of the canyon. Daisy’s ears were back, as if she was a little put out that the kids were not cooperating. As the two of them scampered about, Daisy mooed around after them, trying to get them to come to the knoll overlooking the canyon. Finally, after a good run, Heidi stopped and went to her mother to try for a little drink of milk. Daisy complied, but only for a few seconds before she moved forth to the tall grasses on the knoll, just a few yards away. There, she allowed Heidi to nurse a little more, and soon Dancer followed. In short time, they were both head-knocking Daisy’s udder to get their fill of afternoon milk.

After making sure both fawns were cleaned up from their meal, I watched Daisy lie down at the edge of the knoll that overlooks the canyon and provides views to our house, yard, and pasture.  I have often thought the knoll was the perfect spot for a lookout post and, evidently, Daisy thought so too! Also, I am sure it was necessary for Daisy to stick around for a while to get Heidi and Dancer settled and bedded down properly.

Three hours later, I walked a load of brush to the burn pile we have in a gully on the east side of the knoll. From the burn pile area, I could see Daisy’s ears barely visible in the tall weeds atop the knoll. She was still lying in the same spot and the canopy of towering trees was beginning to shade the area. I wondered when Daisy would leave her little charges to rest by themselves, while she again began to graze and patrol her territory? As I walked away with my empty wheelbarrow, I thought about how I could not imagine myself just sitting somewhere for three, solid hours. But Daisy seemed calm, and perhaps she was taking advantage of a chance to rest herself just a bit. Maybe she was enjoying family time, with her two little ones close by. Or, it could be that the warmth of this day, after endless days of cool and rain, simply felt good to her.

Heidi is on the left, and Dancer is on the right in all of these photographs.

Reaching the storage building, I put my wheelbarrow away and walked to the house to fetch a bag of pecans and a bottle of water. Then I walked back to the knoll. I did not bother Daisy but, instead, found my own shady spot a little way across from her, where I could spend some time with my girl while I sipped some cool water and snacked on a few pecans. At times Daisy’s head would poke up from the weeds and I would greet her softly and gently, saying, “Hello Daisy Dew, it’s just the Mamma.” She seemed not to mind her human mother’s presence and I was hopeful that, by hanging about nearby, the twins would get used to the sound of my voice and the scent of my presence as well. For twenty minutes, I enjoyed the shade, the sounds of the woodlands, the vision of Daisy quietly chewing her cud as she rested in the flowering weeds, and the comfort of knowing her babies were resting safely nearby. Taking a sip of water before starting on another handful of pecans, I thought about the calm, quiet beauty of it all… and I realized that my Daisy sure knew how to pick a lovely spot for a family picnic!

Daisy nurses her babies and attempts to get them to lay down on the knoll to have an afternoon nap!

© 2014 Day by Day the Farm Girl Way…