Today we had sort of a mini-blizzard. Only a few inches of snow, but it was blowing so hard that it was truly miserable outside. I wasn't sure what I was going to share about today. Then... while I was eating dinner, a deer, a large doe, with a big yellow DNR tag in her ear wandered into our yard. Right behind her came several other deer. I'm talking really close to the house... 15 feet. The only way I could take pictures without spooking them was through the window and my cheapie camera insisted on focusing on the screen, so all the pictures are terrible. This is the best one.
They pawed in the snow and nibbled some dry weeds in the yard. You can see one of them here, munching on low branches of an apple tree. As the winter progresses and they have trouble finding enough food they will eat some trees up as high as they can reach. Before they were done, 10 deer came through. The doe with the tag was clearly the leader. You can find her in the picture. Just after this she moved and stood apart and watched me taking the pictures. Finally some movement I made spooked her and she raised her tail and led them all off at a lazy lope.
Just a few minutes later the sun was setting. You can see deer number 11 in this picture. We have TOO MANY DEER, but it's still cool to see them so close.
I would love to live somewhere I could see deer in my garden. That is, until they actually came into my garden and started eating my plants.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the beautiful photos. I haven't seen deer up close for quite some time now. What a beautiful spot you have.
ReplyDeleteHi Solomon- that is the problem exactly. They much their way through my garden. The hostas are salad! And when there are too many in the area some starve in the winter.
ReplyDeleteMountain Woman- We do have a nice little kingdom. Too close to town for me with some ugliness on the edges, but I pretend it's huge and wooded and that I can't see all those other buildings. Fantasy is a wonderful thing!
My dear, you see so many deer in your yard which I watched with envy.
ReplyDeleteMany deer for sure. That's the story of a northern Michigan life.
ReplyDeleteThe window screen gave the first picture some character that it would have been lacking without it. I know you didn't want it in there, but I like it for some reason. After getting bored with so many of them last year, I'm now excitedly waiting to see more deer.
ReplyDeleteHi Ratty- yes, the screen is an interesting effect. I was mostly upset because I would have had some really nice ones of the large doe, but the focus is just awful... another time!
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