Lopsided roses

The roses began to bloom a couple of days ago. It's May, so it's time, so that's really not news. The news is they are only blooming on one side. 

What's up with that, you ask. Answer: the deer nibbled off the front side of all three rose bushes. 

The roses are planted along the front porch so the deer can only reach one side. You would think they wouldn't bother roses because of the thorns, but they do. 

Nurturing roses and then having the deer destroy half the bushes is frustrating. We're about to take drastic measures. 

We don't hunt. We have no intention of shooting a deer. We will, however, put a slug in the ground near their feet to scare them away. We hope that if we do that often enough, they'll get the message and stay in the woods. 

Will it work? We'll see. 

The Lady of the Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, roses, whitetail deer, country lifestyle, rural living, a writer's life, deer damage, deer control, gardening, simple country pleasures

Sneaky little hooves

We've known he's taken a liking to our backyard. We've seen him around. Deuce certainly knows he's here. They have the animal version of an argument over just who owns the space. The buck walks in, Deuce leaps to his paws to give chase, the buck goes as far as the top of the stone fence and stops. Then the buck snorts at the dog and the dog freezes. He's not sure what that whistle/snort means but he knows it's not a good thing in his little doggie world. 

And that's it. The show is over for the moment. It will resume the next time the buck steps into the backyard. 

We try not to laugh at our dog. Deuce is our furry son, after all. He holds the title of Honorary Human, unlike the cat. (Loki is a Heathen, let me tell you.) But the dog's sudden loss of bravado is funny. 

We hope this young-ish buck stays on our side of the road and out of the state park where he could be "harvested." We'd like to see him remain in the gene pool for another season because he's a good-sized animal. So many bucks around here are getting smaller. 

This is the first time the buck has tripped the trail cam that we can get a good video of him and prove to the naysayers we have an eight-point lurking about. 

Who does own the backyard? I do, and I say the buck can stay.

Stay sneaky, my little friend. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

 

The deer munched the raspberries!

 

We have a small red raspberry patch growing behind our shed. I think it's remnants of my grandfather's berry patch that have gone wild. Last year I picked enough to make some lovely raspberry crepes one Sunday morning, and I planned to do the same this year. 

I checked on the berries every few days, delighted to discover there would be enough for the crepes and to put in the freezer for crepes in about six months. 

It was not to be. 

I checked them on a Saturday morning and told the Lord of the Manor that tomorrow was the day. I got up on Sunday and took a bowl to the patch and.....no berries. None. But there were fresh deer droppings everywhere. 

This fall I'm taking preventative measures. Those sneaky ladies will not rob me of one of my summertime treats again, no sir-ree. Not only will I fence the bushes, but I'm also going to start a few sets from the runners and fence those as well. There are only six bushes, but that's all I need. 

All you deer go find someone else's berries. These are mine!

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Trail cam provides proof of activity

 Last fall, on an impulse, I purchased an inexpensive trail cam to see what actually goes on in the backyard after dark. It's been both interesting and disappointing. 

We expected to get a lot of deer footage and we have. Unfortunately, there are times the trail cam doesn't activate until it's almost too late and we get a two-second blip. Other times it works the way we want it to. A few months ago it gave us a five-second video of a doe with a very bad limp. We agreed it was unlikely she'd survive the summer. Now, thanks to continuing footage, we can report she has healed and has just a slight limp. She was living alone in our woods but is once again traveling with her group. She can keep up with them when they run so we're hopeful all is well with her. 

We'd also hoped to discover where the foxes pass through the yard so we can set the Havahart trap for them. They've got to go. Not only would they eat Loki if they could catch him, but they carry a virus dangerous to dogs. 

And then there is the raccoon. The raccoons around here can carry rabies. He needs to be dispatched if we can catch him. Common sense says this one is probably fine since we don't see him during the day but it's a chance I don't want to take. I go outside with the dog after dark and I've had an unholy fear of rabies all my life. 

One thing I've learned is that I should download the footage from the trail cam more frequently. Clicking through thousands of images takes a lot of time. If I made it a weekly habit, it would only be a couple of hundred images to view. 

But sometimes the cam picks up some very strange wild life, something almost unexplainable. Something that amuses at least one of us. 

The Lord of the Manor does occasionally do a little work, and now he has proof.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Buck rub

buck rub on a downed tree

The neighborhood buck has come to visit, and he left a calling card - a buck rub. 

In the summer of 2019, one of the cherry trees out in the "west forty" toppled over for no apparent reason. It happens when you have a lot of trees. We don't really question the why of it, being accepting of nature's ways. It's slated for firewood, having had a season to dry. Allowing it to dry will make it easier to cut and split, and if it still has too much moisture in it, we'll burn it next year. There's no reason to get excited about it. Life on the manor unfolds at its own pace. 

This morning, when I stepped into my sunroom office, I noticed two things. First, the big poplar tree on the fringe of the yard dropped a lot of leaves overnight, and two, the buck rub. Buck rub happens as the bucks scrape their new antlers on whatever object strikes their fancy to rub off the velvet that has protected their antlers as they grew out over the summer. Yes, whitetail bucks grow a set of new antlers each year. If you're very lucky, you could be walking in the woods and find last year's set. You can even train your dog to scent them out.  

I've seen the young four-point buck in the woods, with his little harem of three doe and four fawns. I doubt the fawns of 2020 are his, but next year, those born will most assuredly be his. He must have that certain something since he already has the ladies lined up. 

I'm also very happy he chose a downed tree for a rub. There are visible gouges in the wood, deep enough to damage a living tree, or even kill one. That's what happened to an Ash tree twenty years ago, long before the borer beetle invaded. 

As destructive as deer can be, I'm glad to have them around. They are shy, graceful things when they're not eating everything in sight. Hunting them used to disturb me, but I know now that if there is no hunt, up to one-third of the animals in this area may starve to death over the winter. A quick death is preferable. 

But when hunting season begins, I step outside and talk to the local deer, advising them to stay on the manor and be safe. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor