Rant against deer

[newbiechick]

One somewhat related response, one cycling story involving deer ...

A landscaper we spoke to said the best way to deter the deer is the "mark" the territory yourself. He suggested my husband slip out after dark and relieve himself around the perimeter of the flower bed. Okay, maybe not the best way to make friends with neighbors, but we got a laugh as we considered the idea.

As for me, I love the flora and the fauna, but I love the fauna more. (Which shows that I'm not much of a gardener.) I've said I wouldn't mind the deer eating my hostas if they'd at least come do it when I'm awake so I can enjoy watching them. I don't mind the squirrels at my bird feeders. I do HATE moles, however.

Now for a deer/cycling experience which was charming, but could have been otherwise. On Sunday I was out riding with a couple of friends. I noticed the friend out front point off to the left; I looked and saw a beautiful young deer bounding through a field toward the road. As it got closer I could see it was just a fawn, not tiny, but still small. It ran between my two friends ... and then started following my friend out front. It just ran behind her ... then veered off to the right ... then came back to follow her again ... then off to the left of the road ... then back to follow again ... eventually it did take off. We think it must have been very confused and thought my friend was its mother. It was quite an experience. Of course, I was worried about the poor thing, thinking it may have lost its mother permanently. Of course, there was potential for all kinds of damage (there were cars passing more than once during this experience). But as it was, my friend who was followed said it was a far more spiritual experience than she would have had if she'd gone to church that morning.

[uk elephant]

A landscaper we spoke to said the best way to deter the deer is the "mark" the territory yourself. He suggested my husband slip out after dark and relieve himself around the perimeter of the flower bed. Okay, maybe not the best way to make friends with neighbors, but we got a laugh as we considered the idea.

ahh! So that explains why we never see deer in our garden......not only were there no deer....the lawn had a patch of incredibly lush dense bright green grass....the result of man communing with nature in the middle of the night...

I don't have deer/cycling story....but will a moose/orienteering story do? I was at an orienteering race with my dad (running through the woods with map and compass trying to find little flags). Suddenly I came upon a huge moose just munching away. He didn't seem to mind me being there, so I stayed down wind and followed along for probably half an hour just watching this beautiful animal. When I next looked at the map, I had no idea where I was. So I hiked up to a high point, saw which direction the fjord was in and headed that way. I figured I'd get to the road one way or another. I did and eventually got back to the starting/finishing point. I didn't find any of the little flags that day, but had a fantastic race!

[7rider]

I don't have deer/cycling story....but will a moose/orienteering story do?

Sure. We don't discriminate against cervids!

[crazycanuck]

K...How about Roo stories?

RoadRaven or KiwiGirl-any Kea stories?

C