Lady Hawk's post, "Best Day Ever in the Woods," reminded me of a deer encounter the other day that took me quite by surprise. You see I was casting bullets and kept the window next to my electric furnace (Lee Precision) open and the basement sliding door open as well for ventilation. When I finished casting, and went to close the sliding door, there staring me in the face not 20 feet away was a spike buck and three of his friends (girl friends?). I said "hi!" then quietly closed the door and went back inside: They didn't run away, but merely continued eating. Deer are commonly seen in my neighborhood, which is in a hilly, tree covered area of my city, but this one was closer than usual and quite unexpected. I often see them when I ride my bike and the generally just look up and then continue their meal.
This just in: Not only deer, but this morning's newspaper, The Daily Freeman (10/14/18) reports three bears were seen (2 captured) in midtown Kingston, NY, which is ~2 miles from my house! More info. about it can be seen on TDF's website, but it is slow and somewhat frustrating to use.