The Rutting Season

Last night, while driving home in the dark, a buck leaped across the road in front of my car. Fortunately, my “hockey reflexes” kicked in. I quickly but lightly braked so the SUV behind me didn’t ram into my vehicle. The deer was a formidable specimen with at least six points to his antlers and could have significantly damaged the car, its occupants, and himself.

This incident reminded me of a story a friend told me, in which a buck had rammed into the side of her vehicle catching his antlers in her rear view mirror. Not having much experience with deer, she felt devastated that a beautiful creature such as this buck would have attacked her car in this manner or, alternately, that she had in some way been at fault to cause the buck this accident. Why did he do this?

I asked her if the experience occurred in the autumn. She replied, “Yes,” surprised that I had guessed. I explained to her that during the autumn, the female deer come into season, creating a strong alluring body scent that is very enticing to male deer. The bucks, who are normally extremely reclusive, hiding deep in the forest, become semi-brainless as the follow the scent of a doe … sometime right across a highway through traffic. She had done nothing wrong.

As the I Ching says, “No blame.”