Antone's Nightclub
Homeless Deer
RECEIVED Fri., April 23, 2004
Dear Editor,
Have you ever heard a deer bleating? Maybe out in the woods, but I have been hearing this deer bleating in distress since last night, and I live in the city, in an apartment complex in North Austin, near development and construction. It's heartbreaking. Over the past few months I have noticed with the increase in development in this area there has been an influx of deer in large numbers in my complex. Not only have I seen live deer, I have seen so many more dead deer on the road as well. These deer are being forced out of their homes to make room for car dealerships and storage facilities. It disgusts me. I feel helpless. I feel angry. I see old houses that have been torn down to make room for the road expansion on 620, and wooded areas demolished to make room for a strip mall or whatever it is they are going to build. But those people asked to leave their home were given money; they can go to another place to live. These deer have no place to go, but an apartment complex, where they sit all day and bleat in distress. Or there is the other alternative ... wander around until they are hit by a car. I'm not the most gifted writer, and I don't know how to put into words my feelings when I hear this deer bleating. When I see these helpless animals congregating on the complex lawns instead of their homes. What a sad, disappointing species us humans have become (I'm even disappointed in myself at times). So far removed from our roots. I sit here with my window open, still hearing this deer, and also in the background I hear the beeping from a construction machine of some kind we are all too familiar with.
Have you ever heard a deer bleating? Maybe out in the woods, but I have been hearing this deer bleating in distress since last night, and I live in the city, in an apartment complex in North Austin, near development and construction. It's heartbreaking. Over the past few months I have noticed with the increase in development in this area there has been an influx of deer in large numbers in my complex. Not only have I seen live deer, I have seen so many more dead deer on the road as well. These deer are being forced out of their homes to make room for car dealerships and storage facilities. It disgusts me. I feel helpless. I feel angry. I see old houses that have been torn down to make room for the road expansion on 620, and wooded areas demolished to make room for a strip mall or whatever it is they are going to build. But those people asked to leave their home were given money; they can go to another place to live. These deer have no place to go, but an apartment complex, where they sit all day and bleat in distress. Or there is the other alternative ... wander around until they are hit by a car. I'm not the most gifted writer, and I don't know how to put into words my feelings when I hear this deer bleating. When I see these helpless animals congregating on the complex lawns instead of their homes. What a sad, disappointing species us humans have become (I'm even disappointed in myself at times). So far removed from our roots. I sit here with my window open, still hearing this deer, and also in the background I hear the beeping from a construction machine of some kind we are all too familiar with.
Elisabeth Ruggles