Guess who's coming to dinner?

Yesterday I hung a new bird feeder from a branch. I only filled it a quarter of the way with sunflower seed because I wanted to see how the squirrels reacted to it. Typically they hang on a feeder and may even find their way inside!

This morning the squirrels and birds were enjoying the seed, and indeed a pair of squirrels took turns hanging on it, spilling a fair amount of seed onto the ground. Later I looked out and was startled to see much larger mammals feeding on the spilled seed.


There were three deer, one obviously the mother with two adolescents. The squirrels and birds were still present. This deer seemed to be staring at us, perhaps waiting for some corn to be served.

I took this picture through the glass door and the rail of the deck. Eventually we slipped out the door but of course the deer left, but they walked off with dignity instead of running.