Duck Lake you claw, you fight, you lose.

Following his encounter on the hillside the beast moved on, heading for the trees once again. He found some vague indications of other life among the trees, and began to scour the shadows for something to eat. This quickly became tedious, but Betelgeuse knew he needed to be patient if he was to survive; so he hunkered down for an hour or so, waiting, watching — and it all paid off.

There was a gap in the trees near his resting place, and through it traipsed a wiry doe. It's head was lowered among the shrubbery of the forest where it tended to the brambles, sneaking nibbles of the young trees sprouting there. As it drifted closer, he shifted his weight and tucked his limbs close, trying to poise himself for the imminent chase — then there was a sound, not from him by near him. The doe's head shot up in surprise, and her eyes inadvertently landed upon his half-hidden features in the dark.

That was enough. The doe bolted away from him then, and he reacted in kind — thrusting himself from his place among the roots of neighboring trees and stampeding peccary-style after her. The chase was swift, because he was not. As his body came careening out of the forest to the north of it, he was left panting and the doe vaulted off, leaping away from the cover of the trees and out across the lakefront.