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Deer me

19 Comments

A priest pets a deer at Todai-ji Temple in Nara.

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19 Comments
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How beautiful. How trusting they are, to each other and the surrounding enviroment. Great way to end one year and start another. I wonder, is the next year the year of the deer? just a thought.

Moderator: 2011 is the year of the rabbit.

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Beautiful!

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Absolutely lovely photo. I miss Nara~

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The deer is saying "GIVE ME A CRACKER!"

There aren't any in the bowl, dude.

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Sorry my deer little friend, all we have to offer is some affectionate pats on the head. No munchies here!

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There is no such thing as year of the deer.

The deer is probably quite familiar with people petting and feeding it.

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Very nice Photo. The priest could be a twin of the one that often stands outside my station waiting for donations.

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These deers are "holy", as in you aren't allowed to shoo them away, kill them or in any other way harm them, aren't they? What will they then do if they gets sick? Like scabies (Sarcoptes scabiei) for instant. I know that a lot of deers suffers from that in Denmark and if left untreated (in most cases that unfortunately means shooting them) it will spread explosively (also to other animals and humans) and causes a lot of suffering for the animals and in worst case scenarios: death.

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I love Nara. Beautiful.

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Bambi?

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I agree with other posters - how beautiful and peace-filled. This is a doe, isn't it? Nara is my favorite place in all the world...

Happy New Year, dear JT readers and posters. Bring on the Year of the Rabbit!!

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Sometimes a photograph can overcome the usual day-to-day deconstructions and objections. It is, really, a lovely shot.

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Despite the language barrier of these two species, they seem to have earned each other's trust nonetheless. So why is it so difficult for members of the same species (human kind) to earn each other's trust, loyalty and respect? (retoricle question)

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If that priest is a real Buddhist, he might see that deer as the possible reincarnation of his great-grand mother.

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@Yukikochan: These deer are interact with people every day. They've been exposed to everything we carry and have apparently built up immunity.

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What will they then do if they gets sick?

Hopefully they'll let them die. Unfortunately there's an organization that tends to sick deer in Nara, "protects" the pregnant and newborns and generally do their best to destroy the ecosystem.

If an epidemic would take out a few hundred of them, it would be good news for everyone, as there are far too many, causing extensive environmental damage and loss of biodiversity in the surrounding woods - the Kasugayama Forest Reserve in particular, a Special Natural Monument and a World Heritage site - pestering tourists, farmers and local inhabitants, and of course not only forcing the deer to eat food they don't really like, but also lowering the general state of health among the deer themselves.

Oh, I also think it's cute, but the "trust" of the deer is a direct indication that the ecosystem is severely out of balance.

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I was bit by far too many of these things to think they are cute. I went to college in Nara and had to walk past the stinking park of deer crap every day.

These things carry ticks which carry Lyme Diesease, fleas, and other paracites. If anything these deer are a health violation and danger.

And before anyone flames me I am Japanese born and raised in Miyazaki. Where the wild life is kept in the wild.

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ikkochan; Yes, i guessed you were Japanese by the second paragraph. Glad to see you are full of goodwill.

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Totemo kawaii desu! Arigato gozaimasu, JT!

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