Sunday mornings are often lazy mornings. The workweek is done—and about to begin again—and the Saturday chores are behind you.
As you sit in your own home, you likely aren’t expecting anything wild to happen. And you certainly aren’t expecting to have front row seats to one of the wildest things you will ever see—wildlife giving birth.
This is what happened to a couple in Lethbridge, Alberta.
A Room with a View
On a Sunday morning that began just like any other, Braylon Gorham happened to glance out his living room window. And what he saw was incredible.
He called his wife, Meaghan Lautischer, to come and watch the spectacular event unfolding before them.
As he told Global News,
“Literally, if the window wasn’t there, we could have touched her, we could have grabbed her.”
However, in light of what was going on, I’m sure grabbing her was the last thing on his mind. A doe had chosen a bed of flowers on their front lawn as the spot where she would deliver her babies—two adorable fawns.
They watched the birth with awe.
“She had the one, and we were like: ‘Ahh, this is amazing, like so cool,’ and then she was cleaning it up and whatnot. It was amazing.”
But the show wasn’t over. As Gorham explains,
“Then she had another one a little bit later.”
Remaining Very, Very Quiet
I don’t know about you, but I tend to get loud when I’m excited or watching something thrilling.
Maybe this couple is like that too, but they tried their best to stay quiet and not interrupt and perhaps frightening the animal.
Lautischer says,
“We weren’t making a peep.”
But of course, they also did their best to record something they would very likely never see again. Besides, who would believe them if there wasn’t any video proof?
So they did the best they could to capture the moment. Gorham adds,
“We were just, like, hiding. But we didn’t want to miss it. This is amazing, so we just were hiding on the floor and had our cameras up above the window and we were like, ‘I think we are getting it. I think we are getting it.’”
Instincts Kick In
While giving birth is a suburban neighborhood on someone’s front lawn certainly isn’t usual behavior, mom’s natural instincts kicked in.
Gorham said that once the birthing was complete, mom and babies seemed to know exactly what to do. Their survival depended on it. He says,
“They stayed completely still for the rest of the day and we didn’t see them move until the night and we would check on them occasionally. It was just incredible really to see how instinctual all that was. It was really cool.”
Eventually, the family left, and all returned to normal.
But it was something of a learning experience for Gorham and Lautischer.
A New Appreciation
It’s not unexpected that watching something so incredible and moving would have a powerful effect you. And perhaps make you see things in a different light.
That’s what happened to this couple.
According to Country 105, the couple now have an increased appreciation for the deer in their neighborhood. And how important it is to let them have some space. In many places, the deer have had to adapt as urban sprawl encroaches on wilderness spaces. Gorham says,
“In the city, there’s no predators per se, but they have their own confusing aspects and whatnot, so it’s interesting to think of it with that perspective and how they’ve kind of adapted.”
David Suzuki, who has a Ph.D. in zoology, says this,
“Urban sprawl is cutting into precious farm and wildlands, leaving us with less greenspace and precious wildlands, like bogs, which are being drained and paved over, putting valuable wildlife habitat and species at risk.” David Suzuki Foundation
The couple hopes they get a chance to see mom and babies again.
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