Was there ever any doubt about what is the most disturbing animal in the natural world? Of course not. As Isaac can tell you, it is the White-Tailed Deer.
This morning I was playing with the boys, and noticed the plastic bag that holds the trains we're borrowing had a big hole in the side. I suspected Alten had been a bit impatient in getting them out, tearing his own opening instead of using the existing one. So I put the question to him: "Huh. I wonder how this bag got a hole in it between last night and this morning. Do you know?"
It was Isaac who spoke up. "Deer did it. Deer poked hole in bag with hoofs. Deer tore hole in bag with bellies."
Just one more manifestation of his fascination with the destructive tendencies of deer.
Usually, though, he expresses worry about the deer coming to eat him. "Deer in field," he says.
"I don't see any deer out there," I reply.
"Deer in field," he maintains. "Deer eat me."
Margo is great at the back-and-forth. "Deer are herbivores. They eat plants. Are you a plant?"
"No."
"Tell the deer you aren't grass, and that they can't eat you."
"No eat me! No I'm grass! Not deer food."
This exchange happens with some frequency, but this morning was the first I'd heard it expanded to other destructive habits. We don't really know if deer are a stand-in for worry in general, or if he has an actual aversion to the animal. Often it seems like he's teasing about it, other times he seems genuinely worried.
Just wait till he learns about the agricultural and environmental damage they do. Get that boy a bow!
