Deer and Co.....

 "If we recognise that every ecosystem can also be viewed as a food web, we can think of it as a circular, interlacing nexus of plant animal relationships. Each species, be it a form of bacteria or deer, is knitted together in a network of interdependence, however indirect the links may be.

-Murray Bookchin

 I always say I live in a Disney Garden. Seems like there all sorts of birds and animals coming here at one time or another. Never saw deer close up till we moved to Campbell River.   They recognize us  and  peer in the windows at times, when they are not so busy foraging. These two bucks come every single day or every night,depending on their busy eating schedule.

Eating takes up most of their time. Well, all of their time, I've noticed. They're kind of like squirrels. Really BIG squirrels.

 They're supposed to eat everything in sight. But all they seem to eat are the seeds I have out for the birds.Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.Not as many birds now. Just deer. In the fall they will come for the plums and apples on the trees.  

 I wonder what the cats think of them. They show no fear. I wonder if they think they are just really big cats. We have cats in the garden, rats, mice , hawks, eagles circling , doves, finches, juncos, robins, thrushes, Stellar Jays.....bears in the fall.Though I think they have come at night. And at one time, cougars. 

But I digress. Back to the deer.......I spray every pot, every rose bush, every flowering thing  ( well, I try to) with Bobbex. Bobexx is a miracle deer/rabbit repellent. 

 Bobbexx stinks. Non toxic.(You just can't spray it on fruit or veggies) It's made with fish meal, fish oil, meat meal, and two non-protein repellent ingredients added for odour control; garlic and castor oil. Oh, and dried eggs. Deer hate the taste of proteins.  I leave the seeds in the pot under the bush. The birds go after those seeds, and whatever is leftover the deer finish up. In the winter they clean up all the leftover seeds that are wet and icy.  

 Never saw deer  when I was growing up. Raccoons mostly. We used to leave cat chow on the porch for our cats to eat. But the smart raccoons noticed this and would help themselves. We had to move the bowls inside. Once, I was in the kitchen and a turned around to see a large raccoon sitting by the cat bowls, by the fridge. She shoved as much cat chow as she could into her mouth and skedaddled. From then on the door had to be kept closed.

Usually the raccoons were dragging around a ton of babies, all running around everywhere like little leprechauns.

 But the deer , with their velvet horns, are much more impressive.  Our cats and the neighbours' cats watch with bated breath most days.

 Smokey is very brave. He gets so close to the deer. They don't seem to mind him.They just are too busy eating.

 Stuff. Stuff. Stuff. they go. With seeds.

 When I was growing up we used to have peacocks, pheasant and  quail toddling about the lawn. Pheasant and Peacocks were noisy and bossy

 The little quail with their brood were like weebles, wobbling around like toys.

Raccoons lived in a hollow tree right outside the kitchen window. You could watch  the babies sliding down the trunk.  For years that tree was their home. One year it  had to be cut down to a stump, since the  tree had fulfilled its life span.  The raccoons found another home. Probably the shed at the back of the property. You could hear the "Chrr chrr, hmm hmmm" at times. 

 And then one day the peacocks stopped strutting across the grass. And the quail  never came back. And though the raccoons weren't as visible , I knew they were still around. In the dusk you would see them sitting on that stump, sliding down what was left of that old tree.

 But we never had deer.  Deer so happy, coming or going. They have me well trained.  They may not eat the  flowers, but there are always seeds out for them. And then they go next door and eat the strawberries.......And when fall comes, I will love watching them yank away at the fruit trees.Plenty to go around. Some day they will find another garden to raid... and then maybe  I will get to see the bears that puddle back and fro through the neighbourhood...

   " My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands a chasing the deer; Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe; My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go. "      Robert Burns