The Deer are Back

I was working on The Farm yesterday when I noticed that one of our fruit trees had been browsed.  At first I thought it was insect damage, but then I noticed the steaming pile.  Yep.  It was the first fresh deer poop of the season.  There was just one pile (one deer?) and none of our other trees were damaged, but the war is on.

There is a ceasefire during the hot weather every summer when the herd goes up the mountain, but the rest of the year features one battle after another.  In the spring, I even caught one—pinned it in the corner of the six foot garden fence—but couldn't think of what to do with it—stab it with my pocket knife?—so I let it go.  It was still dark, but my neighbor was up and, apparently, saw the encounter.  Later he said, "You must have been a track star in college.  I saw you chase down that deer."  (And that was in the backyard, you should see me in the open field.)

In any case, for trees, the best offense is a good defense.  A solid cage made of wood and wire works best to protect the tree.  The problem is that we've planted dozens of trees in the past couple of years, so it is a lot of work to hold the fort.  Plus, the tree cages don't protect all the other plantings.  Valerie uses commercial deer spray on those.  The spray works, but it is temporary, and needs constant re-application.

Have you noticed that when someone wants to tell you how lovely and peaceful their vacation was, they'll say, "Oh, and at sunset every evening we could watch the deer from our window?"  I always roll my eyes.  Yeah, what a treat.  I enjoy watching maggots, too.  I like having my house full of rats and the sky darkened by locusts.  The war is on.