A white-tailed deer interacting with a young adult male wearing a green hoodie in an outdoor forested area during autumn, with fallen leaves and bare trees indicating the season. 1:08

Wild deer eat apples straight from his hand

A young man in a green hoodie finds a quiet log in the woods, brings a few apples and carrots, and waits. He doesn't wait long. more

His name is Chris, and these woods are a protected forest in Ontario, Canada. The deer here are wild and roam where they please. Still, in this place they have no reason to fear people.

The smell of the food does the calling. The deer come in through the fallen leaves and bare autumn trees until they're close enough to eat straight out of his hand. Chris keeps low and lets them come to him.

A white-tailed deer interacting with a young adult male wearing a green hoodie in an outdoor forested area during autumn, with fallen leaves and bare trees indicating the season. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A young man in a green hoodie finds a quiet log in the woods, brings a few apples and carrots, and waits.

For Chris, this is nothing new. His calm, easy way with animals keeps them near him whenever he visits this forest. He says he has made friends with all kinds of creatures, from wild birds and horses to sea turtles, and even sharks.

Trust is the word that keeps coming up. A trusting deer and a trusting man, as one person put it. Another remembered a little cabin in Virginia, sitting in a small clearing while deer came close, and called it an amazing feeling when wild creatures come to be with you.

Here, in the leaves, that feeling is easy to see. For a little while, nobody in this forest has anything to fear.