4 | JUNE 8 • 2023 

for openers
Alan’s Wild Kingdom
I

’m fascinated by videos 
involving animals. If I’m not 
checking emails or texts on 
my phone, there’s a good chance 
you might catch me watching 
a video involving any number 
of species. And 
I’m definitely not 
talking about the 
videos people 
post on social 
media updating 
the world on 
their pet’s day-to-
day lives.
I’m captivated 
by battles between species, sur-
vival-of-the-fittest heavyweight 
matchups between animals of 
the wild — a zebra trying to 
escape the grasp of a lion, a 
wildebeest fighting off a pack 
of hyenas, or like the last one 
I watched — an unsuspecting 
gazelle, of blessed memory, who 
made the mistake of taking a 
drink out of a watering hole too 
close to a lurking, submerged 
alligator.
I can’t really explain this fas-
cination of mine, but perhaps 
it has something to do with my 
love for eating, my insatiable 
appetite and the way I attack a 
meal when it’s put in front of 
me. (Note to self: Check with 
my therapist about this.)
Meanwhile, it’s apparent the 
invisible people who live behind 
the curtain of social media algo-
rithms know that I’m an avid 
animal video viewer because 
they keep popping up on my 
Facebook timeline. And that’s 
OK because ultimately it dis-
tracts me from the pathetic bat-
tles humans have on Facebook. 
While sitting and writing this 
column at a local coffee shop, 
I bumped into my dear friend 
and former Purtan’s People cast 

member Larry Lawson. I’m glad 
I did because it immediately 
reminded me of one of Larry’s 
unique fascinations with ani-
mals in the wild, which he gave 
me permission to share here.
Larry loves, while driving, to 
take photographs of dogs with 
their heads sticking out of car 
windows. I kid you not. (Note 
to self: Ask my therapist why 
Larry does this.) 
Larry has a huge collection 
of these canine cameos that he’s 
taken, often while glancing at 
drivers’ pets in the cars next to 
him at red lights. He’s kind of a 
pooch paparazzi or should I say 
“pup-arrazi.
” I’ve actually wit-
nessed him in action. 
Larry has seriously consid-
ered publishing a coffee table 
book of dogs, their tongues 
panting and ears flapping in the 
wind. Fortunately, he has yet to 
photograph a dog texting while 
driving.
I only just came to learn that 
Larry’s delight in photographing 
dogs with their heads hanging 
out of car windows extends 
internationally. He shared with 
me a hysterical photo taken 
on a vacation of a fido from 
France. True story. 
While driving a rental car to 
Mont-Saint-Michel — what the 
Normandy Tourism website 
describes as one of Europe’s 
most unforgettable sights that 
dates back to the early 8th cen-
tury — Larry took the time to 
photograph a dog with its head 
out of a car window.
But that’s not what got me 
laughing out loud. Larry admit-
ted that he delayed his arrival 
at the historic landmark that 
draws over 3 million tourists a 
year to take yet another photo-
graph, only this time of cows 

grazing in a pasture. He recalls 
vividly three French men sitting 
on a bench laughing hysterically 
at him at what they no doubt 
knew was one of those whacky 
Americans.
I leave you with my most 
recent and, by far, most mes-
merizing encounter with ani-
mals in the wild … and it’s a 
video I actually shot. 
A couple of weeks ago I hap-
pened to gaze out our front den 
window and there before me, in 
the middle of out garden, was a 
mama deer who had just given 
birth to triplets. I won’t go into 
graphic detail, but there was 
evidence I no doubt had missed 
the actual birth by only a few 
minutes.
My den window was now 
like a giant flat screen TV tuned 
into the Animal Planet chan-
nel. The fawns lay curled up 
against each other while the doe 
cleaned them off. It was mes-
merizing.
The second act was even 
more impactful as one of the 
newborns began trying to raise 
itself up on its spindly legs. 
Within minutes, it was taking 
its first steps and stumbles. Its 
siblings were not quite ready. 
They remained huddled and 
snuggled up against each, later 
falling over each other in their 
delayed efforts to find their 

footing.
I kept my distance, only 
viewing from my den window 
and never approached the new 
family from the outside, fearing 
I would somehow disrupt this 
natural awakening process.
The mother deer, the “Doe,
” 
and her three offspring I affec-
tionally started referring to as 
Re, Me and Fa, have not taken 
up permanent residence in our 
garden. As a matter of fact, they 
were up and gone in only a 
matter of a few hours, before I 
even had time to plan a bris or 
baby-naming. I never got that 
close of a look to determine that 
anyway.
I have every confidence that 
this new family will soon return 
and do what other visiting deer 
have done for the last 30 years 
… treat our garden like an all-
you-can-eat buffet, leaving us to 
enjoy our beautiful flowers for 
only a fraction of the summer.
It doesn’t make me angry. 
And only a couple of times 
have I felt like getting even. But 
luckily for the deer, I don’t have 
a taste for venison … yet. Oh, 
deer! 

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-

over/acting talent, speaker, 

and emcee. Visit his website 

at laughwithbigal.com,“Like” Al 

on Facebook and reach him at 

amuskovitz@thejewishnews.com.

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

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Mama deer 
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