| By Richard Gappmayer, Jennifer’s dad |

Our hometown is a beautiful place to live. My wife and I have lived here for about twenty years, and we love it. We have spectacular views of the mountains and the lake, great neighbors, beautiful skies, quiet surroundings, and deer. Our lot seems to be a thoroughfare between where the deer are and where they want to be. While passing through our yard, they eat our shrubbery, poop on our lawn, and provide much entertainment.

We have a pretty rock wall covered with ivy. In the summer, the deer will not touch it, but in the winter when everything is covered with snow, the deer will paw the snow off the ivy and eat it right down to the ground. They are beautiful animals and are like domestic pets. They lie in the shade of the trees and bushes and chew their cud. (Yes, deer are ruminants like cows.) We have seen a doe and her two fawns playing, jumping around, and chasing each other just like children. Yesterday there was a big four-point buck strutting around like he was the king.

Occasionally we see a dead deer on the side of the road. Because of this and the overpopulation of deer, in the fall each year the city conducts a bow and arrow hunt. Rifles and other guns are not allowed. Usually about one hundred animals are shot, but we still see them through the winter and into the spring.