Graidy is my early bird; he likes to start the day around 5 AM-ish. Once he gets me up, it’s rare that I can get back to sleep. So we hang out and take in the early morning sights.
Once the sun came up, this is what we saw this morning.
There are actually five, all total, though it’s hard to see the fifth one. Two families of three and two.
Pretty scene, isn’t it?
And I’m glad my bumper crop of grapes is not going to waste.
Yep, I watched as they plowed through my back fence, sauntered through the back yard, and right over to my little grape vines to help themselves to the extras.
Pretty as they are, and as bucolic a scene as they paint, they bring deer ticks with them. Deer ticks are the carriers of Lyme Disease. We don’t need any more Lyme Disease around here. And what you can’t see from these photos is that they’re only about a meter away from the dog fence.
Because Graidy is ridiculously near-sighted, and the deer were down wind, he hadn’t caught on to their presence. Time to point out that we had company.
Since these deer know they have a safe haven on our 10-acre sanctuary, they needed a little encouragement to high-tail it. As you can see — we’re still at low tails here.
After a little more encouragement, the mama turns to look to see if we mean it.
We mean it. And off they finally go.
Now I’ve got to go find where they broke through the fence and repair it. Until the next time…
Life in the country.
My deer must be like Deb’s deer they seem to feel the need to smash through the fence other than just jumping over it. It could be a sight thing though.
Ugh! Deer ticks. The other day my pack and I strayed from the main path at Angeles Crest National forest and when we got home…tick heaven! Gross and dangerous! We have many deer at the foothills and because of the Station Fire they visit the homes frequently. The other day our street sounded like it was under siege, or being evacuated again. I rushed out, and what do I see? Police cars escorting about 15 deer who had made it down to Foothil Blvd.
Perhaps as they ran away, the little deer said to her sibling, “Ma slapped a bear!”
That was a good one! Thanks for the giggle. :)
What a way to start the morning! great pics!
.-= teetotaled´s last blog ..38 days til Christmas… =-.
Deb, I’d prefer the jumping deer. Fixing fences isn’t high on my list of favorite things to do.
Holly, I also understand that perspective. There certainly is an abundance of deer on our road, and we always have to be on the lookout at dusk and dawn. But I’ve learned to work with (and around) our wildlife. I don’t plant anything the deer like to eat. Though, this is the first time I’ve seen them chomping on my grapes. We’ll have to see on that one.
Cindy, that’s me too. “Happy to see you come. Happy to see you go.”
At the wildlife rehab I volunteer with I got to see the complete recovery of a young deer that had been hit by a car, losing it’s right hind leg in the process. This three-legged wonder now happily roams the twelve acre compound. She has become the poster child of what can be accomplished when faced with an injured animal that many believed needed to be put down. As you can tell, I love deer. Whenever I see one I silently say, “Go in peace”…..just stay out of my yard! ;-)
I am not so generous as you. If I find deer inside my fence (has only happened 2x) …..I send the dogs out after them. The deer ticks are a serious issue and even in town here we have a huge problem with deer. We have so many deer in our area that they cause major damage to cars, serious damage to landscaping and are a total nuisance. Some around here call them Yard Rats.
Those are lovely photos. I remember fixing fences; but it was to keep the sheep in, not the deer out. Our deer tended to jump any fences deemed to be in the way rather than knock them down. Maybe your deer come from a higher gene pool.
.-= Deb´s last blog ..Creating Home: update =-.