Grumpy Old Ganz

The Watchers

After we received a bit of snow a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go out and shovel the driveway and my “deer pasture” to help the melting process along with the warmer temperatures coming that was forecast.

I started with the driveway first. It’s the longest, but also the fastest stretch to do, leaving me the next two hours for the yard and “pasture”.

After completing the driveway, I began clearing the rest, but something wasn’t right. I stopped to look around but saw nothing out of place.

Finally, I realized I wasn’t “seeing” something, because something was watching me. I could sense something out there, but couldn’t see it. It made me uncomfortable, especially with the woods nearby.

I continued to shovel and finally saw what I sensed was something in the woods...deer...they had been following me throughout the process, staying just inside the wooded area outback. They were venturing out into the open and were in plain sight.

Having no fear, they were proceeding into the yard, some within yards and others within feet.

There were 11 deer focused on me, but only one that concerned me. I call him “Flat Top”. He wasn’t as eager to completely come into view but certainly made himself known.

I was keeping an eye on him with all of his offensive weaponry intact. Things escalated quickly and he began lurching at me, dropping his antlers toward the ground and blowing out his nostrils. It was very clear he was becoming a threat. This was not just a little scare tactic!

This continued for several minutes with Flat Top moving directly in front of me in the wide-open space!

I stopped in my tracks and backed away.

As I reached the steps and saw the other deer watching me, I pointed at Flat Top saying “it’s his fault”. It was uncanny how they all turned and looked at him at the same time.

I know there is a video circulating out there of this incident. If it is not the edited version, there may be some disturbing verbiage involved. But in my defense...he deserved every word!