I've been living near Joint Base, north of San Antonio, after moving from Cook County, Chicago.

This area feels less like a developed city and more like people have built homes in the midst of nature.

When I first moved here, I loved that there were many trees and grasses near my house, stars were visible at night, and most importantly, deer roamed around.

A friend living in Chicago said they were envious that deer would stand in front of my house when I opened the door.

Just hearing that makes it sound like a scene from a Disney movie. A deer lifting its head to look at a person in the morning sunlight, as if music would play in the background.

However, living here, that imagination quickly shatters. The deer standing in front of my house every day is not a cute and gentle character.

It is a wild animal filled with wariness, not one that approaches to interact with people. I can tell right away what happened overnight when I open the door in the morning.

The trash can is knocked over, the garbage bags are all torn apart, and the fruit peels and food smells inside are all rummaged through.

The road in front of my house and the backyard look like a mess, as if someone deliberately made it that way because of the deer.

At first, I let it slide because it's a wild animal, but if this keeps happening, to be honest, it gets annoying.

What's scarier is that when the sun goes down, these deer gather and roam around a lot.

I'm not sure if deer are nocturnal, but they seem to be out more at night. Living here, I understand a bit why deer often appear in zombie movies.

And in a neighborhood road with few streetlights, the moment a deer suddenly jumps out is truly heart-stopping.

When a deer gets startled by the headlights and jumps into the road, it happens in an instant, and even if I slam the brakes, it's often too late.

The front of the car gets severely damaged, and the deer usually dies or gets seriously injured. Fortunately, there haven't been any collisions, but they remain a significant hazard when driving at night.

Moreover, male deer completely change their behavior during the breeding season. At that time, you realize that the antlers on the males are not just for show.

They don't intentionally attack people, but if they act unexpectedly while wandering nearby, people can get hurt.

So, I worry more about children or smaller individuals encountering them. In the neighborhood community, there are constant reminders not to approach deer for photos and to keep a distance.

When I first moved here, everyone would say how amazing it was to see deer, feeling like living in nature, but after a few years, thoughts change.

Deer are not cute neighbors but beings to be cautious of. From a distance, they seem like nature and scenery, but living close, they become a realistic nuisance.

Imagining a scene with a deer standing at my door is nice, but actually living with them is a completely different story.

Disney is a story from a movie, and the deer in San Antonio today casually rummage through our neighborhood trash and demonstrate jaywalking at night. Sometimes, there are hunting seasons for deer, but... I find it too bothersome to get a gun, so I'll pass.

Still, since kids enjoy seeing the deer, as long as we manage the trash well and drive slowly at night, it seems like there's not much harm.

In fact, if you think about it, humans have moved into neighborhoods where deer have lived since ancient times... Aren't we just locals living in this San Antonio area for hundreds of years?