Deer in Sleepy Hollow

Posted on July 1, 2004 in Creatures Hikes and Trails

Bob Strickland told me that he’d often seen deer in Sleepy Hollow. I did not believe him. I have often seen them further down the arroyo, grazing beneath the oaks near the intersection of Whiting Road and the Serrano Cow Freeway. But never in Sleepy Hollow.

Bob told me “You have to stop and look.”

So today I did.

I didn’t see anything in the upper reaches, above the dam. As I crossed the dam and descended the steps, I thought I heard a snarl. So I stopped, listened, and then broke out into a rousing chorus of “Mole in the Ground” just in case a puma loitered in the shrubbery.

Maybe thirty paces below the dam, I heard a crashing in the brush across the stream. A buck and his doe scampered off before me. I stopped and looked around. Another doe lay in the shade of the oaks on the other side of the arroyo. She wiggled her ears inquisitively. I spoke gently to her and moved on.

Further on down, I stopped again. The first doe stood facing me. Her man had skipped town. I spoke to her as I had the other. For the first time, I saw what Bob meant. The deer kept to the woods on the opposite side of the run. A distinct path paralleled the human trail. From tracks in the gray soil, I could see they used both routes interchangeably. This doe looked upon me curiously and I returned her gaze.

I started up again. She took three large bounds through the sparse, scrubby understory, then halted to look at me again. I stopped, too. We’d become companions, this doe and I, making our way through the oaks. I nodded and took my leave. She remained standing there until I was out of sight.