HOLLY NADLER

508-274-2329

(hollynadler@gmail.com)

As the hunting season winds down, I’d like to add a timid voice from the tree-hugging Bambi lovers amongst us. As the hunters sneer at such sentimental attachment to deer, bulletins about culling the herds and the spread of Lyme disease, and deer being dumber than dirt and mean to boot, have all but silenced any sappy opposition.

So let me just say this, and I don’t mind expressing myself as a single, lonely voice crying in the wilderness, although I firmly believe there are lots of people who secretly, furtively, guiltily agree with me: Deer are amongst the most beautiful, elegant and endearing of God’s creatures, and, although they may not be as smart as, say, elephants, parrots or monkeys (though nearly every species is in many ways smarter than human beings), they’re smart enough.

Here’s what I learned from reading Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s new book, The Hidden Life of Deer (HarperCollins, $24.99): They travel in family units, generally composed of a head doe, a daughter doe or two, and a fawn or two, with the yearling and older males off growing antlers and waiting for the rut in November. The males do fight, but not to the extent that they draw blood; instead they’re roughhousing in a boys-will-be-boys sort of way. The fawns hide in the grasses all day while their mothers forage in the woods before coming back to feed them.

In national parks where lurk no predators , i.e. wolves, bears and human hunters, deer lose all skittishness and they come around to say hi with their immense, curious, white-circled eyes, ballerina necks, and exquisitely attuned ears.

If hunting permits were revoked, Mother Nature would keep the deer population under control, just as She does with every overstocked species whenever necessary (caveat: homo sapiens). Ms. Thomas first noticed the habits of the deer herds on her land in New Hampshire when in the winter of 2007 the oak trees shut down acorn production. Now, acorns happen to be the favorite staple of deer, turkeys and squirrels, but after a number of winters of keeping these critters, if not fat and happy, surviving and breeding, the oaks are suddenly deprived of their own bright future because not a single acorn is left on the ground to put down roots and start a baby oak tree.

That was the year the anthropologist decided, against the express wishes of the Fish And Game folk, to deposit corn in her field to feed the deer and the wild turkeys and, in the meantime, to observe and report on them. Had she not done so, many of these animals would have died. Sad but true, and it just goes to show that Nature has its own corrections without need for 30-30 rifles.

Make no mistake; even Ms. Thomas understands the thrill of hunting, although she herself has never shot an animal. On one occasion, she tracked local prey with a neighboring deer stalker and found herself infused with the sheer, overwhelming blood lust of it.

Still, is it advancing our civilization that the killer instinct is encouraged in any way; in hunting, or in factory farming, or in the rules of engagement of war? (Told you I was a tree-hugger/Bambi-lover: sorry!)

Lyme is caused by ticks, not deer, so spray on the insect repellent before you putter in the garden. (I learned my lesson this summer when I came down with babesiosis; my husband and dog both have Lyme; if anyone wants to blast their shotguns at ticks, please do.)

There’s a herd of five deer that hang out on the perimeter of my property. Huxley chases them away, which is sort of adorable on his part; he’s a fifth of their size but he doesn’t know it. But all I can say is that I’m blissed out at any sighting of these deer, and I wouldn’t mind if we established the Island as a hundred-mile-square game preserve.

Note to hunters: Please don’t shoot me; I’m the woman dressed in a purple or fuschia jacket at this time of year.

The Oak Bluffs School is collecting big-time for the Red Stocking Fund this week to provide families in need with Christmas gifts for their kids. The students are asked to bring in donations large and small, and are awarded a sticker to remind them that by giving, they receive. Donations are needed more than ever. Whereas in the past couple of years, the Red Stocking brigade furnished presents for 300 children, they’re expecting a sum closer to 375 this holiday season. To contribute through the school, you can drop off checks at the office any time during hours of operation this week.

This past Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 8, at the school on the front lawn, a tree planting and dedication honored the memory of alumna Jena Pothier, who died last summer in a car accident.

At the Oak Bluffs library on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 10:30 a.m., story time will center on Hanukkah.

Also at the library, on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m., Tom Dresser will discuss his book about the Beatles, It Was 40 Years Ago Today. If you’re not already a Beatles lover, you will be after reading Tom’s book, and Fab Four fans will definitely be satisfied.