A Herd of Deer Returns

The deer are here! Now that the weather is warmer, the deer have returned in groups. Today, a herd of five large deer came through our pasture and walked across the front yard. They were enormous! I'm sure I recognize this group; the two bucks with the antlers in velvet are the twin babies we first saw a couple of years ago. They were not shy at all. I was able to walk up reasonably close.

They wandered over to the blueberry bushes and started tugging on the netting. I had to shoo them away.

Yesterday, a young buck was trying to figure out how to nudge open the garden gate. I ran out with the broom and waved it at him.  

Otherwise, we enjoy seeing them around the property when they aren't trying to eat our garden and blueberries. There are plenty of other things for them to eat around here. They nibble on the lower branches of the trees and eat our roses. There's a whole trail full of native bushes and plants. They also eat dandelions (we are never in short supply of those on our farm). Last summer, I was perplexed to see swiss chard growing in our burn pile, and soon enough, the deer discovered it and ate it all up. I'm thinking about planting swiss chard out there for them this year since it grew without being watered. I don't mind sharing the seeds with deer. 

And, of course, like all the other animals around here, they root around and eat the strange things growing in the compost pile. It's the crows' fault. The crows unearth the things buried there, digging and turning the pile over for everyone else to pick through.