When I was looking into where to stay during our Waterton time, I read reviews for the Townsite campground (which is right in the middle of the park itself), mentioning mean deer. Deer who had attacked dogs. Some campers actually armed themselves against these deer! This made me nervous - esp. for our little cats! But there weren't a lot of choices, so with some trepidation, I signed us up for Townsite...
And the deer showed up all right! They came without fear, mowing the lawns all around our campers. They were a little different-looking. I can't quite put my finger on what it was about them - if they were just a little smaller than normal, their faces were stubbier, or what. They didn't seem mean, but they definitely didn't seem skittish either.
It was not just the campground reviewers who warned about these aggressive deer - it was also the park service, the campground hosts! In their written material to all campers, they told of deer who not only had attacked pets (both large and small!) but had also KILLED them!!! So, I joined the ranks of armed pet owners on our first outing with the dogs and took one of my walking sticks! And sure enough, one of the deer did seem to get a little too interested and started trotting over our way, with a rather too determined expression on her face! She changed her mind though, when I charged at her with my walking stick, yelling at her to back off. I'm not sure if I made a larger impression on her or on some other tourists who were passing by! But I don't care - don't mess with my babies!!!!!! Bill and I both think she did indeed have evil on her mind. But after that, I felt that I didn't need the walking stick - that just me alone running and yelling at them would suffice. And fortunately, neither was really called for after that first run-in. Maybe word got around...!
Once I felt that I could safely control the situation, they were fun to watch. Esp. when they brought their babies by. So, on this one rainy day, I stood out there taking family portraits, me and my camera getting soaked...
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