“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His [own] life for the sheep. John 10:10-11 AMP
There are times when my wife and I are in the right place at the right time. Minutes before I took the above photo, we saw this female deer (doe) giving birth to her fawn. We were on foot not too far from home, so we hurried back and I got my better camera, long range lens, and tripod.
When I returned, the weary doe lay next to her offspring, still wet from birth. I set up far enough away so as not to cause the doe any visible anxiety. She surveyed me for a minute or two. Convinced I wasn’t coming any closer, she began to clean her newborn fawn with her long tongue.
Several minutes passed before the fawn tried to prop itself up on two unsteady hind legs, its head resting on the ground between its front feet. After a while longer, the fawn stood up on all four feet for the very first time in its life. It wobbled a bit, then tumbled back down into the soft grass.
And so, life begins anew once again in our little corner of the world. What an absolute privilege it is for us to be first-hand observers of these kinds of things. The best we could tell, out of the billions of people on the planet, we were the only two present to witness this particular event.
Predator Avoidance
As I’ve mentioned before, fawns carry little or no scent. They also are spotted for the first few months of their lives. Both of these things help them evade discovery by other animals, especially predators. You can see some close-up pictures of various fawns under the Deer Elk & Moose Category in the Blog section on my website.
Fawns are, by nature, nearly helpless at birth. They need someone who cares deeply about them to guide and nurture them, and show them where to go and what to do. Whether we like to admit it or not, people are a lot like that too.
In the above Scripture, Jesus told us one of the main reasons He came to this earth – to give us a life of meaning and purpose. In short – abundant life. He likened Himself to a good shepherd, actually The Good Shepherd, Who cares for and tends to His flock. And He spoke of the time He would one day soon show just how very much He loved us by laying down His own life for those who would make the decision to believe on Him.
If you’ve never surrendered your life to the One Who cares about you more than any words can ever express, I encourage you to see Got God?
Hope you have a great day.
Northern Lights II
Aww… beautiful!
Thank you!
I absolutely love this picture!!
Thank you for taking the time to write, Susan. I like this picture as well. I’ve been blessed to see a few fawns that were still wet from birth, but this was the first time the landscape allowed me to even try to get a photo from a distance far enough away so as not to disturb the doe. If you have a moment, click on the Deer Elk Moose category. I have several more picures of fawns from past years in that folder.