Pre-dinner

[elleng]

[PJMcK]

1. They're beautiful

But they're a pain!

We have a great many deer at your house in the Catskills. Frequently, they get killed by vehicles on the country roads and highways. They eat many of the plants and we can't possibly grow flowers without severe and unsightly protection.

Still, the other day there was a baby deer in our yard crying for its mother. She never showed up and it broke my heart.

[elleng]

2. I don't think we have as many as you do, but neighbor has put electric fences around veg gardens

to preserve salads etc.

I had roses in large containers for a few years, but damned SQUIRRELS destroyed them via the roots, so ospreys (instead! tho didn't catch any today.)

[PJMcK]

4. We built a greenhouse

It was a pre-fab kit we bought online at the beginning of the pandemic. It came in one of those boxes where everything fits together like a Tetris puzzle. It turned into a wonderful little 8' X 8' garden where Courtney grows vegetables: cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and green beans.

We built a gravel and paver stone foundation for the greenhouse and it's been terrifically successful for her. On the deck, she has her herb garden and lettuce as well as a few flowers growing in planters.

The deer are beautiful but stupid. That little foal is now on its own and it's nature at its saddest. We also see bear, bald eagles, hawks, turkey vultures, a white skunk(!), beavers, raccoons, ground hogs, snakes and fish down in the Delaware River. It's nature at its most lovely! Much like the view from your place, elleng.

[usonian]

6. Yes, indeed.

Everyone with a garden here has 7 foot fences (because deer can jump 6 feet) and even double fences, to defeat them from getting a running start. And then the gophers, moles, squirrels. I put out a plastic drip irrigation system for my three INEDIBLE container trees, and some critters chewed right through the plastic.

I visited a place that sells iris bulbs, and the people there have a big garden. The guy there told us stories of how he defends it. Amazingly, their house is surrounded by a miniature "magic garden" of plants and arbors etc. I need to share some pix of that, as it's amazing stuff. Will do so in a bit.

[usonian]

3. You have a big heart.

Agree, and I suspect that Momma had a run-in with an auto. Happened twice to me.

Just to say that they have not evolved a way to dodge cars. From what I read and observe, they freeze and then head off in a random direction, to confuse predators. This has a high chance of accidents, because autos are real fast, and don't maneuver like a mountain lion. And mountain lions do get them.

Thinking of moving away from the country (as in rural).

[PJMcK]

5. Thank you (n/t)

[usonian]

7. I posted the "Magic Garden" people near me have created. in Photography

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036102841