KINDNESS

The courage to give away something you have, to meet someone else’s need, expecting nothing in return.

Deer: Odocoileus virginianus

Did you know deer can be found on every continent of the world, except for Australia and Antarctica?  They are also very social creatures, traveling in herds. In fact, some caribou (reindeer) travel in herds as big as 100,000 animals! 

Calm and Gentle are words that are often associated with deer. A mother specifically is indeed a model of kindness.  When Doe (the female deer) is about to give birth, she will find a secluded thicket to have her fawns. When a fawn is born, usually only one or two at a time, their mother will lick the fawn clean of the fluids that cover them from the birthing process. She then will leave the fawns in the safety of the thicket to go and find food for them. Fawns will stay with there mother for about two years.

Deer have been giving of themselves to people on the American continent for centuries. Early American diet often consisted of deer, including deer jerky. Frontiersmen ate this as well as those who were already there, the tribes of Native Americans. They also wore the hides of deer both for protection from the cold, and for beauty.

The male deer even gave the skin off of its back for early American money. The reason we call the American Dollar bill a “buck,” is because in the 18th and 19th Century the hide of the male deer (called a Buck) was what they used as money.