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Jun
28
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Posted by maureen
June 28, 2007 |
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One of the joys of living on a wooded lot is the glimpses of the squirrels, rabbits and deer: one of the toughest parts about living on a wooded lot is the daily ravages of the squirrels, rabbits and deer! This year has been particularly dry in our area and the wild life is eating more plants than usual in the quest for water.
Yesterday I looked out of window and caught sight of “Bambi” slowly munching on my prize pot of ivy geraniums. It had been a picture of health the evening before; green and lush, cascading over the stone pot and heavy with blooms ready to explode into glorious color Her timing was perfect : all those weeks of careful feeding , watering and nurturing had provided her with a meal fit for a ..well…fit for a deer! I watched speechless as she stepped back to reveal that she had eaten everything (and I mean everything) except the stalks. The bare green stalks had been stripped of every bit of greenery and looked pitiful. She stood there with geranium petals hanging from the side of her mouth and a look of “who me” on her face. How could you? Any one would think that clearing we made in the woods at the bottom of the yard was to give you easy access to the plants that I painstakingly cared for over
As I was surveying the damage my neighbor called me over. She is a transplanted condo dweller who has thrown herself into cultivating a garden. She gave me a knowing nod and pointed to some stumps in the mulch. That was all that was left of the half a dozen or so hostas she had proudly showed off to me the week before. We exchanged reports of our casualties (the wounded and the dead): hydrangeas, hostas, geraniums, vinca …the list went on and on! And then we prepared for damage control by spraying everything in sight: she armed herself with Liquid Fence, and I used Deer Off .
That wasn’t her only problem though. Moles were clearly rampant in her yard and were even lifting stones and pavers. She had brought some “poison worms” recommended by a local store but wasn’t sure if she had applied them correctly. Either way we both decided that they were probably the same moles I cleared from my yard last year and that she would be merely returning the favor and sending them back to me!!
“Thumper” of course is another frequent visit and looks well fed on all the greenery we provide. He is pretty bold too and isn’t nearly as eager to run when you make an appearance. Come to think of it he is getting rounder,…..perhaps he’s too fat to run!
I won’t even tell you about all the troubles we had with squirrels when they got in under the eves and started to nest under the roof. Those cute little animals multiply like crazy when they have a good roof over their heads!! They believe in sharing their good fortune and vacate the premises for bigger animals like raccoons. Now, let me tell you you need a professional “critter getter’ to take care of them and then there are the repair bills…
Of course, the coup de grasse is when the water bill arrives and you realize that you have spent hundreds of dollars for brown grass, a few stalks of greenery and a wood (and an occasional roof) filled with happy, well fed animals!!
And it’s no good trying to look cute on me now…..I’m still mad……well just a little!
Comments
Our new neighbors were putting in a wrought iron fence that crossed our invisible fence. My wife and I were frantically trying to get the invisible fence people out to mark the yard before we left for vacation so that our neighbors wouldn’t cut our fence. After some pleading we finally had someone come out and mark the yard just before we were scheduled to leave. That evening I walk out to see my daughter with handful of flags (about 20). In a moment of panic I asked her “What are you doing?”. “Picking flowers Daddy” she says. It was hard to be mad.