Feed the deers in Nara

“Alright so here’s how it happened: I had bought my second round of deer cookies and was walking down the main street toward the temple. I had put my camera away because I was trying to be more in the moment [...] There was one deer following me, I’d give him a piece of cookie and continue walking down the street. Essentially I was walking a deer down the street, and it was pretty awesome. I felt a bit like Elliott in E.T. with the Reese’s Pieces. All was fine and well until a second deer falls into step and wants some food too. This causes me to stop so I can feed both of them. Apparently, I was not going fast enough for my new dinner guest, because he decided to nip me on the leg. I was more shocked than anything, the bite thankfully didn’t break the skin, or tear my clothes, but I did get a bruise to remember him by.”

“There was one deer I fed for quite a while, under the shade of a blossoming cherry tree. Raising my hand up to put the cracker over my head, the deer would bow its head down, politely asking to be fed. This deer, my little Japanese Bambi as I liked to call it, eventually trusted me enough to let me pet it. It was such a sweetheart! Admittedly, not all of the deer were so polite as to bow their heads when asking for a cracker, or allow you to pet them. Yet, even when I was surrounded by a small group of hungry deer, none of them got aggressive.”

“Don’t be fooled by their doe eyes, though – these messengers of the gods are far from the demure lil things in Bambi. They can get pretty rowdy just for a taste of their beloved crackers! Head-butting, slobbering and biting are not unheard of, and a few were even chasing after some terrified children around the park. One even stuck its snout in my bag! [...] some deer weren’t as enthusiastic when I tried to feed them again on the way out.”