Bambi and the Cougar

And a doe sends you a kiss

There’s a misperception that farmers invariably get angry at animals that intrude on their lands and eat their crops. Not true. Sure, farmers complain about coyotes eating their lambs or elk eating their crops — don’t ask us about the bears who march through our fences. But we do recognize that we are actually the intruders, and we’ve built a symbiotic relationship with wildlife.

We have the good fortune of living in a wildlife corridor right where Oregon’s Willamette Valley melts into the coastal range, so we’ve put up some wildlife cameras on Kristof Farms. The scenes fill us with awe, though we worry about the weaker players in a Darwinian world. Take this newborn fawn on our place. Can anything be cuter or more vulnerable than that fawn?

We figured that the fawn might not survive long, because of this mountain lion we also caught on the wildlife cam. The cougar shows up regularly on camera, often prowling at night, and in this clip she’s investigating the camera.

It may seem odd to be sharing animal videos with you at a time of wars in Ukraine and Gaza, of threats to democracy at home, of pivotal choices in electoral politics. But we all benefit from respite, a distraction every now and then from the intensity of today’s world. Maybe the cameras at Kristof Farms can provide it.

Moreover, they also provide some perspective. We think we live by the law of the jungle? Not as much as that fawn!

This younger cougar also showed up, prowling for dinner — a bit unusual, because cougars usually don’t share territory except when mating. We figure this one was just passing through, perhaps looking for its own territory (or for a fawn to dine on).

Grown deer can outrun a predator, but a fawn can’t. Even this bobcat could make a meal of a fawn, and a doe isn’t well equipped to protect her young. A buck has antlers, but a doe is pretty much defenseless.

Bears can also eat deer, especially young ones. So we also wondered if the fawn might fall prey to this guy — although he looks pretty fat, probably from dining on our grapes and apples! As you’ll see came out of his way to check out the wildlife camera.

Nature finds a balance and also produces miracles. Behold, the fawn somehow survives. Here’s a more recent photo of her with her mom. She’ll soon be able to outrun a predator. We marvel that she’s still alive, and it’s somehow reassuring that even a fawn can navigate a path to safety.

Other animals showed up, including a skunk, opossum and one surprise animal we’ve never seen on the farm: a peacock. We didn’t even know that wild peacocks existed in Oregon; apparently they started out as domestic animals and were released or escaped, and then multiplied.

The peacock looks a little lost, and it should. It showed up for only this one clip on the camera, so we can’t help wondering if it is now safely stowed in the stomach of one of the cougars.

We marvel at the wildlife here. We’re lucky that Kristof Farms is surrounded by forests, and we treasure the animals even when we resent their predations of our grapes and cider apples.

We aspire to produce some of the world’s best wine and cider in part to bring relaxation, joy and awe, as well as to build community. Great wine and cider, especially with friends and family, can offer much needed relaxation and diversion; likewise, we hope you find these animal scenes relaxing and amusing as well.

This Substack used to be Nicholas Kristof’s during his brief political campaign, but it has been idle since he rejoined The New York Times. So we thought we’d reshape it for Kristof Farms and give you a glimpse of life on what we like to think is The Most Beautiful Farm in the World. You can follow our farming journey on our website, KristofFarms.com. And we welcome your thoughts about the kinds of conversations you’d like to join through this column. Farming? Wine- and cider-making? Organic vs. traditional practices?

And on the theory we could all use a little more love, we’ll leave you with a smooch from one of our deer.

Happy Summer from Kristof Farms!