Christmas Out at Bob's

I got a surprise Christmas night, my friend Big Buddy came by for a bite. I had been so worried that something had happened to my big forest friend. His rake has four antlers with little splits at the tips of them making then look like can openers. It was Christmas so I gave my friend a large apple which I put at the edge of the porch. Buddy had a bit of a hard time biting the apple so I cut it up for him. He was about two when I first met him four years ago. Big Buddy, Mr. Fuzzy Antlers and Stumpy are my oldest deer here with a large group of offspring. I can see each of the fathers features in the offspring by the markings and antlers. Mr. Fuzzy Antlers was my first friend. We would go out foraging together. I would help him out by getting the things he couldn't reach. Our friendship started by me getting a arm full of apples and offering them to him. He saw that I wasn't a threat. He started hanging out after that letting me work outside without running off with the load noises I was making. I could use the chain saw and it didn't seem to bother him as long as he saw me making the noise. Big Buddy and Stumpy were a couple years younger when I met them. When I was sick Buddy used to walk up the stairs and look in the front door window to see where I was. I don't know if he could sense how sick I was but it help me get outside even though I didn't feel like getting out of bed. Some of the most interesting things I never would have imagined was one deer would control the herd and look out for them. I saw all the deer in the thick forest eating and there was Buddy in the creek looking up the hill seeing where everyone was. This year Buddy broke his rear leg. That really troubled me. I tried getting help for him but no one wanted to help not without money. His leg was just hanging and it scared me. He limped around for months. I put out more bird seed and picked up a bale of alfalfa to help him eat so he wouldn't have to travel so far. It seem to work and he never was far from the property. After a few months he started putting weight on his leg but still limping. Soon after his antlers were full he was pushing other large deer around. What I thought was cute was watching him as a young deer came up to him slowly trying to challenge him but not to make him angry. Buddy was good, he gentle pressed up against his head and started pushing. The young deer didn't stand a chance. Buddy just pushed the little deer around like he wasn't even there. Buddy didn't want to hurt the little deer and if I didn't know better through the challenge and let the little deer win. The little deer started strutting like he was king of the roost. I never thought I'd see deer being affectionate to each other. One young deer who's mother died in a car accident was all along one night. It was raining and the little guy seemed to be so afraid without his mother. That's when Buddy came up next to him and started licking him on the neck. The little deer leaned into Buddy to keep him warm. Buddy pulled the little guy closer. He set his head over the little deer and pull him closer.