In the
region of North Idaho between the cities of Coeur d’Alene and Kellogg, there
lies a beautiful stretch of river known as the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene
River. Here is where an unusual event took place between me and a not so dear
deer.
There are many wonderful
campsites along the North Fork that offer spacious secluded spots with many of
them sitting right on the banks of this crystal clear river. Some of these
sites have campground hosts and charge a small fee per night for your stay.
Many of the sites are free and this is where I chose to stay for my weekend
adventure. The site had great shade, a perfect swimming hole and was off the
road enough so I thought I would not be disturbed by any humans so I could enjoy
a nice quiet couple of days. Well, it was not the humans I should have been
concerned about after all. I never thought a small female deer could be so much
trouble.
It all started on my
first night while I was having a nice camp dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread and
salad. In the middle of my feast, I left the campsite for a minute to get some
water from the river. Down at the river, I heard a sound coming from my camp
table. I forgot about getting my water and hurried back to my table only to
find my dinner on the ground with a beautiful doe munching on the spaghetti. I
was quiet and watched her eat the rest of my food and when she was done, she
sniffed around the campsite for a while and slowly meandered down the river
bank.
This was fun and exciting
for me to see and I was thankful for the experience until the next morning.
What a great feeling it is to wake up to the sound of a rushing river and the
crisp mountain air, I thought, as I began cooking my breakfast of scrambled
eggs, potatoes and bacon. The coffee was perfect, the breakfast tasted better
than any other and once again, I found myself in the presence of my dear deer
friend. With her nose up in the air sniffing the aroma of my cooking, she
seemed to have little fear of me. As beautiful as this deer was, I shooed her
off so I could actually finish this meal but my shooing did little to keep her
away from my table. The doe would not come up to me but she did come within
three or four feet with her mouth watering and her lips smacking. I gave in to
her hunger and threw her some eggs and potatoes. She gobbled this food down
quickly and wanted more. “That’s all you get!” I told her and she eventually
left but not before relieving herself of some of her pellets on my
site.
I love to hike more than
just about anything in my life so after breakfast, I set off for a short five
mile excursion along a trail that went to a gorgeous mountain meadow well above
the river. After two or three hours of some great scenery and rugged terrain, I
was back at the campsite ready for a snack and a cool drink. Normally when I
camp, I am not too worried about putting my cooler away until I go to bed so I
had left it out under my table. Like I said, normally this is fine but not this
weekend. My cooler had been tipped completely over with food and ice scattered
everywhere. Plastic wrappings that held a variety of different food items had
been chewed open and whatever was in them was gone. The only thing left was my
raw eggs and bacon. I did not even think twice about who the burglar of my food
was. Can you guess?
I was not really upset
about this and it gave a great story to tell you. Luckily, there was a small
store and restaurant just down the road a few miles so In case you were worried
if I starved that weekend, I did not. I did learn a valuable lesson about
putting away my food when leaving the campsite. I also learned from a forest
ranger that I was not the only person in the area that had been visited by this
deer. The doe had been going around to many of the campsites the entire summer
and had actually had been given a name from a group of campers a few weeks prior
to my visit. The name they chose was Frita, for the deer’s insatiable love of
Fritos.
