By Allen Brewer

It’s been a few weeks since Pokémon Go has been released in America, and the catching game is still running strong. Even though I don’t have a phone to view Pokémon, there are plenty of other vermin running around my backyard and my garden.

Last week, I went for a walk around my property to get some fresh air. I live out in the country, outside Oxford, and I came across a deer hiding in the blackberry vines. I had no idea she was even there until I heard a loud snort to my right. The only thing I saw was the white of her tail before she vanished into the growth in a seconds time.

I thought that was strange but I have seen a lot of deer around my house lately, so I didn’t think much of it. I don’t like shooting deer because I think they look kind of neat, plus I was a fan of Bambi as a kid. Although I like looking at them, I do expect them to keep their side of the bargain and stay out of my garden.

As I continued my walk, I became trapped in a spider web; It was a pretty good size one. As I untangled myself from the spiders net, I heard a rustling sound then saw a brownish gray blob with a stripped tail crawl into the woods.

The tail, unmistakably, belonged to a raccoon that had been nibbling on fresh pares. That afternoon when I told my dad he almost had a fit.

“That little bandit stole all of our pares right off of our trees!”

Deer may be cool, but there is nothing good about a sneaking raccoon.

I decided to go back to my garden to check on my plants before I ended my walk. I opened the gate and started looking through my tomatoes for ripe fruit when a shadow scurried through the cucumber vines toward the fence. I walked quickly to the corner where I found our intruder to be a baby bunny rabbit.

He stayed there for a second, probably scared that I would pounce on him, before jumping through a hole in the chicken wire fence. I was dumbfound seeing both Disney’s Bambi, Meeko and Thumper in one day! Surely this wasn’t scripted?

Being a nature photographer, it’s no surprise I stumbled upon the exposed animals without my camera. Most of the best pictures in nature, I find, are taken with our eyes.

My friends say I am missing out by not having the Pokémon Go app, but if I did, I would have probably missed seeing these creatures. When the game goes global, I wonder if people in Africa will be walking through herds of elephants trying to find a Pokémon.

Although walking with Pokémon sounds great, I think I will stick with the normal animals for now.

Allen Brewer is an intern for the Oxford EAGLE. You can reach him at allengbrewer@yahoo.com.