The Quiet Forest

When I got to the nature park this time there was no sounds at all. No birds, no squirrels, no anything. Not even any people were there to disturb me. I thought it wasn't going to be a good day to find any animals, so I figured I'd just concentrate on my hike.

After a little while I began to hear something. Don't get excited though because it was only the sound of a cricket. One lone cricket! That's all I heard as I walked through the first third of the hiking trail. It wasn't a problem, but it was kind of eerie if you know that this park is always full of the sound of birds and other animals.

All of this quiet had me listening very closely for any sounds of the forest, even something small. Eventually I did hear some quiet shuffling sounds in the leaves. I instinctively stopped and looked in the direction it was coming from. The sound turned into a squirrel right before my eyes.

I guess there were animals after all, but by this time I was in the mood to focus on the forest around me. The pictures that you see here are what this forest looks like today. The last time I showed it to you it was lush and green. A month or two ago I was depressed about this, but now I'm okay with it because I realize that this is the natural order of things.

Even with the forest like this there is a natural dignity that all good forests have. I also get to experience hiking in a completely different environment, even though this is the very same forest that I hike at least once a week all year long. There are also others that I travel at the same frequency. The changing seasons continue to give me a new adventure every day.

When winter arrives there will be times when the forest floor that is now covered with brown leaves will have a white carpet of snow on top. That will give me a completely new adventure. It will also give me a different challenge to consider. As time changes so do my adventures. That makes me happy.

(Before you leave, if you like short stories jump on over to Rat Tales and take a look at my latest story, It's Coming. You won't be sorry.)(I also have another post right below the one you're reading right now. I've been very busy, haven't I?)

My Two New Awards

I have received two awards in the last few days. They happen to be the same award, but from two different places. Think of it, two different people thought my blog was worthy enough to give this award to me. That makes me doubly grateful! I really appreciate it!

I received this first from my friend VanillaSeven, and here is his post where you can find it: Best Blog Award.

I also received this from my friend Chuck at Secondary Roads, and here is his post where you can find it: Another Award Received ~ Best Blog Award.

I want to sincerely thank you both for these awards. I am extremely grateful that you thought of me and my blog.

And to everyone else, visit their blogs and tell them Ratty sent you.

Now on to the rules for this award. You must post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted you this award and a link to his/her blog.

Pass the award on to 15 other blogs you have recently discovered, and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers you’ve awarded to let them know they have been chosen.

Well, as most of you know by now, I just simply can't do anything, and I mean anything, without being a dastardly cheater! So the way I'm going to bend the rules this time is to give it to you, the one who is reading this. Most of you have a blog, and I've already been reading yours. I know you deserve this award as much as I do, so that's why it's yours now. You've read this, so it's too late to give it back!

You don't have to do anything but accept my congratulations. But if you want to write a post about it mentioning me, I will be extremely grateful to you. And you should know by now how much I like visiting and telling you how much I like your site. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you very much!

My First Buck!

I finally got to see him! I saw my first male white-tailed deer, also known as a buck. This has been a long time coming for me. After seeing and taking so many pictures of female deer and their little ones I literally stumbled right into the meeting with this one.

I was at the same park where I've seen so many deer in the meadow at the back. I was actually looking for them back there, and I was disappointed that there were none there. For some odd reason I expected to see them that day, which I've never done before.

I had forgotten all about it when I was all the way back to the front of the park, getting ready to leave. I had one more turn before I could see the parking lot when I sensed something off to my right. There it was laying in the grass! He was looking in my direction, but he seemed completely unconcerned.

At first I didn't see his antlers, but I quickly focused my eyes, and there they were! I began furiously taking pictures for all I was worth! The funny thing is that he didn't move even an inch. I didn't even see a twitch of an ear! This was even after I moved from side to side trying to get a better view over the tall grass.

I actually began to suspect that maybe he wasn't real. I thought maybe he was only a stuffed deer that was put there for some strange reason. Why would somebody do that? After awhile I thought I saw him blink his eyes. It was a huge relief!

Since he wasn't going to move, I decided that I should just go away and not disturb him any longer. The pictures were close to identical, and I was guessing that he must just need to rest. Not wanting to interrupt that, I headed off towards the parking lot. But then I got an idea.

I came back around from another direction, doing my best to sneak up on him. I didn't want to get too close because even though he would most likely run, those antlers are there for a reason. I actually got pretty close to him before he made his move.

He got up quickly, so I thought he must have seen me coming at him. Then he did something unexpected. Instead of looking at me, he looked off to the right. I followed his head to what he was looking at. There was a guy standing in the exact same spot where I previously took my pictures from.

It was that guy that the deer didn't like. Why didn't he care when I was over there? Maybe I have developed a certain body language that says I'm not a threat. That could become dangerous for me in the wrong situation. The deer never once looked at me now.

He soon ran off into the woods and was gone. I got this picture of him leaving. It's a little blurry, but it illustrates exactly why they call them white-tailed deer. They lift their tails like this when they sense danger. It acts as an instinctive flag to warn any other deer.

So ends my exciting encounter with the first male deer I've ever seen. The first set of antlers I have ever seen up close. Nature is such a wonderful thing!