More Deer

I actually have another story that is related to deer. However, this one is entirely true, and doesn't have any fictional dialog.

The other night, I decided to go for a run. It was about 8:30, and so it was starting to get dark. I decided to do my normal five mile loop, that brings me onto a paved nature trail for the last mile and a half. My run was going great and it felt good to be exercising in cooler temperatures. Eventually, I started approaching the trail, and it was then that I realized that that it was really dark out, and the trail wasn't lit at all, apart from occasional houses that peered through the thick forest on either side.

I came up to the trail and slowed to a walk just for a few seconds as I examined the darkness ahead of me. Just then, something caught the corner of my eye, apparently as I caught the corner of their eyes, and all of us jumped and ran at the same time. It quickly came to my attention that this was indeed four deer that had been standing a few feet away from me. I don't know what I thought it was for that first split second, but I tend to be easily startled, and wasn't a huge fan of that encounter.

It then dawned on me that there was probably going to be a whole lot of deer along this dark path. So I decided to warn them of my approach so that they could get clear of me, and no one would get startled. I decided to use the sound "heep," something I picked up from some friends, to bring attention to myself as I ran along. It was really surprising how many deer were chillin along the trail, and I was very pleased that my strategy was working, as they jumped off into the woods well before I was near them.

As I mentioned before, there were indeed some houses that lined the woods, and occasionally you could see the back decks through the woods. Eventually there was one house, that was clearly visible, and I noticed right away that there were three women standing on the back deck, peering cautiously in my direction. I slowed down without saying anything. Then one of the women said, "are you a person??" I immediately realized that I had been uttering a very peculiar sound quite loudly for the last five minutes, and it was probly pretty audible to anyone nearby. I responded..."yeah, sorry....I was trying to scare off the deer so they wouldn't startle me." The woman replied..."oh...well you kind of scared us...maybe you should try and say a human word next time so we know you're a person, not some weird animal." I laughed along with them, apologized, and continued on my way. I was a little embarrassed, so i discontinued my audible warnings to the deer. Luckily, I think I had already scared all of them off, and made it home without any more encounters.