Oh Dear, Oh Deer!

Work was largely uneventful today, but as we were leaving the library, car trouble struck. My co-worker Miss A. has a 16-year-old daughter who is still earning her hours behind the wheel of her first car on a learner's permit, and her car just wouldn't start. Fortunately, I was prepared. I had jumper cables!

Oddly enough, the cables didn't help. I checked and double-checked the connections on both ends after the learner got some impromptu practice connecting them, but the juice wouldn't flow. I double checked the symptoms on my phone in case something less obvious was getting overlooked, but it just didn't make sense.

After far too long, I realized the issue must be with my jumper cables somehow. Fortunately again, I was double-prepared! I had a brand-new set of cables as well, still sealed in the box. I had bought them on sale to stash away as a boring useful gift to have on hand for then next birthday or Christmas when I would realize at the last minute I overlooked someone. I had also overlooked taking them out of the car, so they were ready for use. I linked the new cable, heard the engine pitch change with the load, and the dead car started right up a moment later. I'll have to more closely inspect the old cables. Maybe the connection between the clamp and the copper wire corroded. I didn't see any obvious damage to the rubber coating.

While I was driving home after that delay, a whitetail doe dashed across the road ahead of me. I didn't hit her, but I noticed an odd small brown shape on the edge of the road. I thought perhaps her fawn had been hit by a car. Deer seem to have an almost magnetic attraction to vehicles, and while it tends to end poorly for the vehicle, it's always worse for the deer.

I got out, and saw it was indeed a fawn lying still. It looked OK as I walked closer. This is a common deer defense mechanism. The baby lies low, remaining motionless to avoid predators while mom forages. At the edge of a gravel road isn't the best such hideout though.

I approached carefully with my phone out, keeping an eye on mom while I was trying to line up a photo. Unfortunately, just as I launched the camera app, baby deer clumsily leapt to its feet and awkwardly scampered into the woods. Thus, you get a stock photo from Pixabay as a substitute. Its mother also re-crossed the road and disappeared into the woods near her baby. Hopefully neither got hit later on. Teach your local critters not to play in traffic, OK?

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