Rant against deer

[7rider]

Grrrrrr...

I just have to vent.
Our neighbors are away for a quick vay-cay. They have a young peach tree still in a pot that they have not decided where to put in the ground. So they gave it to us for the week to keep watered.
It had 4 lovely peaches growing on it. Two were nearly ripe. Ohhhh....every day, I'd water that tree and gaze at those young peaches, filling out...looking oh-so-lovely. That's one of my summer faves - a juicy fresh peach.
This morning.....as we left for work, I checked on their progress.

GONE!!!

All four - even the green ones! Leaves surrounding them, nipped away!!
It was those dam deer!!! A peach pit lay on the ground, adding insult to injury.

Ooooohhhh....I hate those peach eating yard rats. When we first moved in...I thought they were so charming. Cute doey eyes. Fuzzy muzzles. A little bit of nature in our own back yard. But they are evil.
WHY, WHY, WHY can't those stupid deer eat the weeds (lord knows we have PLENTY of those!! )? Why do they eat my neighbor's peaches????
Aaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!

Okay. Rant over.

[RolliePollie]

Very cute, those pesky deer, but also very destructive! It's amazing what they can mow down in one night. I wish they would munch on my lawn instead of the fruits and flowers. Heaven knows I need help with the mowing. But my rose bushes would really love it if they could be allowed to bloom just once this summer!

We've always had deer here, but the population is booming! This area has had about the same human population for years, so I don't think the deer are being driven out of their homelands by new development. They just have a very high birth rate. I don't mind them so much...until they eat my favorite flowers or jump in front of my car (or worse yet, my bike!).

I'm very sorry about your peaches

[Trek420]

Sorry about the peaches

Yes, they are beautiful animals, graceful, powerful, awwwwww cute little fawn twins, powerful bucks with horns, each doe eyed beast an essential part of natures plan and the enviornment, delicious as grilled chops or roast but oooooooh so hard to garden around.

Where I grew up we had plenty of deer.

At first my parents tried to garden around them, find things they don't like, roses :: gulp ::: lemons with thorns :::: burp ::: quince that even people can't eat without tons of sugar :::urp::

Individual fences around plants or sections they gracefully leaped, they scoffed at mountain lion dung, they laughed at our dog...well, you would laugh at a Welsh Terrier too if you were a deer .... you name it we tried it.

When the hills above got brown and they were driven down the hill to get water they eat anything, when they hills above are green they eat your best plants.

Eventually a solution, 12 foot high redwood fence and gate and the garden flourished

And then what to do about gophers from below? ;-)

[Zen]

Deer do what deer do.
DOH!

[Wahine]

The deer ate my tomato plants, all of them.

They like to sleep in the mulch pile right outside of my front door.

I do like venison however.

[Zen]

Your're running a Sandals for deer. Fresh food, fine soft bed, whats not to like?

[Wahine]

Your're running a Sandals for deer. Fresh food, fine soft bed, whats not to like?

Next I'll be out there serving them drinks and giving them a massage.

[Zen]

Don't work too hard for them, notorious bad tippers

[Wahine]

they may not leave money but they do leave me a lot of what looks to be chocolate covered almonds.

[Velobambina]

With the endlessly expanding Washington Metro Area, the deer and other wildlife are being invaded from their habitats. I'm sorry, but I feel bad for the animals. It really bothers me, the way this area has changed in the 20 years that I've lived here.

[7rider]

I do feel sorry for the critters (sometimes).
We live in a 40+ year old house alongside the Rachel Carson Greenway - paradise for deer. At one point, we counted a herd of 12 in our backyard. That kind of density is incredible.

And don't even get me started on the gopher/woodchuck!!!
I was amazed when that tubby little varmint squeezed through the end of a chainlink fence - a space about 2.5" wide! And this guy was a fatty!

Fortunately, I'll likely just get a sympathetic nod or a resigned shrug from my neighbor when I tell him of the lost peaches.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

We have so many deer here that at least once a week some deer suddenly leaps out of the bushes and crosses us right in front of our bikes at 30mph or so. One day I suspect we'll have a collision and someone will be hurt.

[Velobambina]

Hey Regina--Believe me, I know you aren't one of the mcmansion/infill tacky home types. If you were, you wouldn't be posting here or be out on your bike. Instead, you'd be driving your Lexus SUV or Chevy Suburban to the day spa. LOL.
We have a lot of foxes, raccoon, and possums in our neighborhood. No deer, but I've seen a lot of them in the W&OD corridor along Rte. 66 (Arlington & Falls Church) and in Arlington, north of Lee Hwy. Something, oddly enough, ate our sunflower. It hadn't yet become a flower, though. All that's left is the stalk & leaves. My husband thinks a squirrel must have climbed up and nabbed it.

[SheFly]

My garden, too, is being decimated by deer this year. I live in suburbia, and one wouldn't expect quite so many of the critters in my yard. This week though, we looked out to see this young fawn and its mother - they'll likely eat the only apple off my apple tree in addition to all of the flowers... Hard to be angry with something so cute though.

SheFly

[7rider]

SheFly...
Look at those eyes. You can TELL that little thing is just plotting against your garden!
"Hmmmm...", it's thinking. "Is that camera good to eat?"

LisaSH....when I was comparing that Trek Madone 5.2 vs my Seven (see Bikes forum), I was doing ~2 mile laps through my neighborhood. I came bombing down this one hill on the Trek, and a deer (one of 3 in my neighbor's front yard that I had been keeping an eye on) ran out in front of me. I missed it by about 2 feet! I would have had a hard time explaining that one away to the LBS owner if I totalled his brand new Madone on a deer!

And, VB....something has been chomping on the Sedum (sp?). When it was by the garage...untouched. But we split it and moved a hunk to the perennial garden. Now it's dinner time!