The summer of 2018 was dry and hot in the Sonoran Desert and many plants and animals around our ranch were showing the effects.

Early one morning, I looked out our kitchen window and noticed a young mule deer with his nose to one of our planters that rested on a patio column. He seemed to be waiting for something. And then I realized his motivation: As our watering system came on at regular intervals, the emitter often over-sprayed and sent a cooling, refreshing mist over the side of the planter and down the column. The young buck was obviously waiting for this spray—or the drip that ran down the column afterward.

At the time, I had the irrigation timer set for every third day—but, because of the small size of the planter, it ran each time for only about three minutes. And, of course, in the desert heat the over-spray quickly evaporated. So…Was the buck waiting patiently for the cooling mist to come on? Had he learned its sequence and come at the right time on the right day? Was he really that smart?

In the end, because we had spent a good deal of that summer away at our cabin in the Arizona White Mountains (away from the Valley heat), and this photo was taken in September, we surmised that the buck had indeed made it a regular practice to come to our unused patio for a short, but refreshing, drink and a cool off. He seemed quite tame and obviously knew what he was doing.

In the desert, man and beast search diligently for any sign of water and a life-sustaining drink. The young buck had found his cooling oasis at the planter on our patio!