BRC Fallow Deer

And get to work. Brendan isn’t the only one around here getting his hands dirty to get the work done. I usually have to hang back to watch our children but not today! Today, I started a task that has been on the to-do list for a while AND I brought the 2 year old along to “help”. We didn’t get it finished but we made a dent in the workload.

My daughter and I spent the morning in the deer pen ripping out an old barbed wire fence that spanned the cedar tree row.  The trees had overgrown the old fence and made it feel like a jungle to access each fence post.  “Where are you Mommy?” was asked several times as I was snipping the wire with a pair of bolt cutters. It was a fun game of Find Mom in the Tree…. for a little while.  Anyone that has tried to complete a project with a 2 year old, in tow, understands the need to turn anything AND everything into a game while still maintaining the ability to work. She even got to hold the phone for a little bit! She became my videographer in order to capture the fun we were having. 

At first the deer didn’t seem to even notice that we were in the pen with them.  As we moved down the cedar row towards their favorite bedding spot they started to move away from us.  However, there was one doe that was extremely interested in us and what we were doing. She kept running back across the pen towards us and then stopping a little ways back to watch us.  My daughter was enthralled with her.  “Mommy! Deer running!” “Mommy! Deer hopping!” I absolutely love the wonder that crosses my children’s faces when they watch our fallow deer. They already love the herd as much as I do. They are already showing that they will be good shepherds of our fallow deer.   

We think it is extremely important to involve our children in as many of our daily tasks and projects as possible. We want to teach them how to work hard, get their hands dirty and persist until a project is completed. Our goal was to create a family deer farm and I truly believe we are accomplishing that dream. I hope when my children think back on their childhoods they remember their time with the deer in the deer pen fondly.