... merrily typing away: I looked out the window and saw three deer. About thirty feet from the house. When I look out through the glass, I am also looking through the screening on a porch that is about ten feet wide, then a narrow flower bed filled with ferns, hydrangeas and leaf mulch. A wide swath of lawn, maybe twenty feet across. Then trees: pine, magnolia, oak, sweet gum - pretty thickly wooded, though through the trees I can view a thousand cars daily traveling to and from work and shopping. A very busy thoroughfare, though I doubt those hundreds of travelers can see my house as they roll along.
I was sitting here typing, and looked up to see a deer. Easily noticed as she was standing in front of a dark green magnolia tree about forty feet tall. Then I noticed a young still-spotted fawn standing there, nursing. I pulled my camera out of my pocket, but missed the shot of the fawn having breakfast. And did not realize until the mother walked away, that there were two youngsters. Wow.
I've seen hoof prints in the back yard, inside a four foot high chain link fence, so I know they have/can come in the yard. Other evidence is hydrangea plants that have never, ever bloomed, as the deer come along and nip all the tender leaves and buds off. I have noticed several deer at a time out in the thick woods just past that magnolia, where they apparently feel safe enough to roam looking for browsing material. Just across the street is a public golf course, where I have heard there are many deer, protected, with enough trees and undergrowth to hide. The groundskeeper reports that they eat everything they use for landscaping - even azaleas, with fuzzy leaves, they would normally not find attractive.
Even though they are not discriminating and eat things I plant to enjoy the blooms, it is amazing to see them, so I will keep planting and they will keep eating. I will try to remember that I am the one who is doing something abnormal, and the wildlife is doing what they were designed to do.
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