Portrait of a young buck

This handsome young buck posed nicely for his portrait. Consciously or unconsciously, he had chosen the perfect background. Serendipity! I was reading this article about reindeer this morning, so I thought, reindeer or not, he would make a timely blip. Maybe Santa could use his help in our neighborhood on Christmas Eve.

He was one of a small group of deer I encountered at the end of the Evergreen Trail. One of the does in the group was very curious about the birdseed I was holding. She sauntered right up to me and sniffed at the birdseed in my palm. She didn't quite have the courage to take a nibble, but she gave my hand a little nudge with her nose.