Our balcony gives us the perfect vantage point for critter-watching.  The mallard ducks come almost daily to feed in the little stream at the edge of the woods.  Deer visits hadn’t been so frequent until a couple of weeks ago.

At the beginning of March, in an attempt to draw the deer more often, I bought a salt lick.  The label said it was apple-scented and good for enticing bucks.  We tromped through the gush of muddy March and set the brick of salt on a stump.

And then we watched.

Nothing.

No animal was interested, not even the squirrels.

The brick of salt slowly started to disintegrate.  After every rain, there would be a crust of white on its top.

Sometime a deer or two would graze close to the stump, but never actually noticed the salt lick.

And then, one day, a yearling found it!

Now we have frequent visitors.  They come for the salt and for the carrots our neighbor tosses across the stream.

I’m not sure about the ethics of encouraging deer.  They do carry Lyme ticks, chew up peoples’ gardens, and have no natural predators here in the village.  However, deer are such graceful, pretty animals.  We do delight in watching them.  One doe is obviously pregnant.  Maybe we’ll have a fawn or two to enjoy in a couple of months.