May 21, 2011:

On Friday Jennie Barker, who lives in the north suburbs of Pittsburgh, sent a series of photos with the subject line, “Why I didn’t cut the grass yesterday.”

Here’s the story in her own words:

I had finished the front yard and moved to the back, when I found a fawn.

We keep a wire fence around a young dogwood to keep the deer from eating it. Last year, a rabbit made a nest within the fence, but crows took all the young. This year, we put bird netting across the top of the fence to protect the rabbits. As I took this photo, a rabbit stood nearby, looking at the intruder in its spot.

So this is why I stopped cutting the grass and put the lawn mower away.

This morning, the fawn is gone, leaving behind only a depression in the grass.

Later …

I didn’t finish today either.  After sending the pictures of the fawn under the dogwood, I fired up the lawnmower and headed to the back yard, only to come across . . .  (the brown spot at the edge of the mulch)

(just a little brown lump)

(Here it is up close.)

Jenny decided to do the best she could.

I left a 10-12 foot area unmowed so as not to scare it. A doe watched me from the cover of a large bush as I worked.  I was out of sight of the fawn briefly, and when I returned, it was gone. It is probably tucked away in another safe spot in the yard – there are plenty.  For now, my yard work is done.

Two mornings of a fawn in Jennie Barker’s backyard.

(photos and story by Jennie Barker)