By Staff
This morning, as always, I crawled out of bed, nuked a cup of yesterday's coffee and plopped down in my easy chair at the patio door to see what critters were out and about. A Carolina wren bounced perkily around the patio. As usual, the bird feeders were adorned with rose-breasted grosbeaks, several cardinals and a red-bellied woodpecker keeping two downy woodpeckers at bay by intimidation. My eye wandered past the feeders to the creek flowing through the yard. I was awestruck by the most stunning sight. The water flowed pitch black in the morning shade except for one spot in the middle where the rising sun breeched the trees and lit up a perfect circle. There, centered in that bright circle of light, stood a deer. It was just as if she was posing with a stage light focused on her. It was one of those happenstance, once in a lifetime photos had I had my camera all geared up and ready. Of course, I didn't.
Other than the unique setting, seeing the deer was not unusual. They're a nearly every day occurrence. It's not even that remarkable to see her in the creek. Just downstream from the house the water runs wide and shallow and we've seen a number of deer crossing there. It's what happened next that took me aback. She stuck her head completely underwater, leaving just a pair of ears periscoping above the surface. When she lifted her head a long, stringy wad of grass-like weeds dangled from her mouth like green spaghetti. She munched and gulped away, gradually working the weeds up into her mouth. She evidently hadn't yet mastered the art of sucking up spaghetti in a quick slurp. She was apparently having fun with her long, scraggly, green beard, though. Once she reduced the length to about half she went under for another mouthful, renewing the length to where it hung down to her knees.
After ten minutes or so another deer appeared on the creek bank. With seemingly an expression of amazement and wonder, it watched the first deer chowing down this strange stuff for several minutes then cautiously waded out to join her. It tentatively dipped its head under and came up with a serving of green spaghetti. Apparently, as people's tastes vary so, too, do deer. She chewed a bit then spit the rest back into the water, unable to see any big whoop in that stuff. It waded downstream to nip off some overhanging prickly ash leaves, then crossed to the other shore and began munching on elm leaves. All the while the first deer is bobbing for green spaghetti like there's no tomorrow. Being the open minded sort, deer number two waded back out and gave the green spaghetti another try. A second go didn't help any. She mouthed if for a while, spit it out and wandered up onto the bank for a nap. After 25 minutes of nonstop gluttony and I can only guess how many pounds of green spaghetti, deer number one finally waddled up onto the bank and flopped down to sleep off her decadence.
I was disappointed that both deer didn't share equal exuberance for the spaghetti. These aquatic weeds are newcomers to the creek and they're bugging me. They're a product of a steady flow of silt that we never used to have. Over the last few years someone, presumably properly permitted to do so, has been messing with the water level of Lake LaGrange, many miles upstream from me. The lake is now just a stream flowing through a vast muck land. This muck is continually washing down and even makes its way through the Dowagiac Mill Pond to continue on the full length of the Dowagiac Creek to its confluence with the Dowagiac River. Despite a perky water flow, the once pristine, sand and gravel bottom of the Dowagiac Creek is fast filling in with sediment and weeds. I was hoping the deer might be a natural solution to the weed issue. But who knows? Maybe in time the rest of the deer will develop a taste for green spaghetti. Perhaps more sauce? Carpe diem.