There is an awareness, an acknowledgement, an action, but it does not arise out of a mental decision by the self. It's more of a visual acknowledgement. It is proprioceptive, a self- awareness devoid of ego. We constantly participate in many interacting energy fields. The deer might not see me, but she might smell me and she might respond by moving in a particular direction.
Many factors interact in sequence and simultaneously to evoke different responses and perceptions.
Intuition and insight seem subtle enough to perceive consciousness itself. When we feel the natural flow of intuition we sense matter and consciousness in an undivided movement. It is this type of communion with other creatures and with natural processes and cycles themselves that has inspired many supporters of the deep ecology movement. Muir felt this communion in his encounters with the Sierra mountains. On the more subtle level of consciousness, too, we have no map or path.