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Where we live happens to have a huge deer population and I don’t mean Goliath size dinosaur deer. I mean “huge” as in there are A LOT of them. A few of months ago Coral started deer hunting. With a camera, not a gun. And I’ve got to tell you, they are a bold and brazen bunch. So much so that we caught one on our porch late one night and I know you might be sarcastically thinking, “Big deal!” I’d think that to if the deer just strolled through our front lawn to get to our porch, but no no no. To get to our porch means you have to climb 21 steps and make your way past a baby gate. Now, if you’re thinking, “must be a pain in the ass when you have to carry groceries from the car or take the trash out,” you are exactly right. But I digress…

as I often do because…who knows? Anyway, as I was saying…

A few months ago we decided to take a leisurely drive through the neighborhood just to find some deer and on our first outing we caught a baby deer, no bigger than a foot tall, walking across the street about 60 seconds from our house. Don’t get me wrong, deer are total pests and have literally eaten enough of Coral’s plants that she’d need to apply for a loan to replace them. I’m talking a lot of plants here, people. However, seeing the baby deer walk across the street was incredibly adorable. And, in a way, so out of place. It sparked an idea for Coral and she started documenting the deer we find. Coral came up with the “You don’t belong here anyway” series based on the contrast/contradiction of seeing the deer (nature) mixing in with the neighborhood (civilization).

Coral is much more eloquent with words, so I’m giving her the floor here:

We discovered that the entire west side of town abutted a vast hill country. The result of which is wildlife intersecting with civilization. Deer, rabbits, mountain lions, wild boars, skunks… For better or worse, the line between nature and neighborhood is indistinct and very blurry here. And though the deer particularly have been a nightmare for me as a gardener, I can’t help but be in awe of them- impressed with their bold resilience, and a bit confused by it too. I’ll be forgoing fashion for a bit to post a series of photos documenting the deer throughout my neighborhood; it’s called You Don’t Belong Here Anyway. I hope these photos and their title encourage you to consider whether it’s the deer, or the suburban sprawl that remains out of place, and I hope you enjoy!

– Coral

I couldn’t have said it better.

If you can please picture us in Safari outfits cruising around Paso Robles in a 1976 Scout, it would be much appreciated.

It’s not Coral’s first color choice, but as the driver on these urban hunts I get to choose the color of our vehicle.

Be sure to follow Coral on Instagram: @slomygosh

Enjoy!
– Jeff