Hi, MM ...

We have both mule deer and black tailed deer in Trinity County. I have seen both species in town.

From Wikipedia:

"Deer are browsers. During the winter and early spring, they feed on Douglas-fir, western red cedar, red huckleberry, salal, deer fern, and lichens growing on trees. Late spring to fall, they consume grasses, blackberries, apples, fireweed, pearly everlasting, forbs, salmonberry, salal, and maple. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Of course, town deer have an extended diet ...

I noticed deer in the threads list and recently came across a pretty neat one (majestic looking) in my Picasa library, it's from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden in October at Springfield, Il. A couple of year's ago.

THey sure are beautiful animals. In other peoples yard even better. Great picture jnorth.

Great photo, jmorth.


treehugger, I agree, they are beautiful animals.

Wow, that's a majestic beast. We just have too many of them!

I love this video of deer running through Cleveland Park in DC:

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

The first pic was taken in July of 2013 in our front yard the 2nd in June of 2012. She was about 15' away from me next to our driveway. They're not scared at all of humans unless you yell or make a lot of noise then they just turn and walk off.

Beautiful photo, J!

And those are great pics of the deer in your yard, Chris!

Chris ...

"They're not scared at all of humans unless you yell or make a lot of noise then they just turn and walk off."

So, true. I've had fun this year telling stories of how I've been chasing deer off of my property. I just didn't want them to feel welcome. Town deer are so used to humans yelling at them and flapping their arms to chase them off, they kind of turn around and look at you as if they are saying, "You talkin' to me ?"

I came up with a wretched sound that I have named "The Call of A Rabid Goose" when I wanted to chase them off. It works because I may look human and smell like a human, I sure don't sound like one ...

Here's a few post I made to scare off a buck that decided that his afternoon resting place would be under my maple tree while he gazed at the meadow across the road. He's a beauty.

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

You can see from the first photo, the buck really didn't know what was making that sound.

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

http://garden.org/thread/view_...

The buck never came back to rest under the maple tree, but I think I saw the same buck up on the deer trail on my neighbor's property above mine. He was limping badly. He didn't follow the deer trail across the slope above my property, but turned abruptly and went limping further up the slope.

I couldn't see him and that's when I went up to check my deer fence and saw the cat tracks.

Good ones Lyn, my son would love to put him in the sights of his AR-15! What kind of cat little or big?

Hi Chris ...

Big ... probably a young male displaced by a dominant male now looking for his own territory. They often come to town because they are still inefficient hunters and town deer are easy prey.

jmorth, that's a great picture.

I LOVE the Call of the Rabid Goose

Thanks Sally.

Uh oh, we're seeing deer for the first time in a couple of years.

They usually stay just south of us and rarely venture into our neighborhood. They must be searching for food due to the snow. Everything's still snow-covered in the woods (only two streets down), but tasty azaleas and arborvitae are laid out here like an open buffet. As long as they stick to the abundant acorns still covering my lawn!

And speaking of acorns, there are so many that it's a tripping hazard. There's no easy way to rake or pick them up, so I'm hoping the squirrels and birds get their fill.

SSG, will a lawn vac pick them up?

Our deer have ventured from the woods again since the snow has melted and compacted. They never ventured from the woods in the deep snow.

SSG, Deer love acorns so maybe they will fix that problem for you.

SSG, my advice would be to dissuade them from browsing your yard asap. Home Depot/Lowes should still have rolls of light weight deer/bird netting (6 x 100') which can be easily draped over shrubbery. Deer don't like to have their noses 'tickled' This can also form a temporary fence. Important to intervene now before they register your yard as a good place to dine.

A small wet/dry vac will work on the acorns if you don't have a lawn vac.

SSG, I use the leaf blower on the acorns. My skills with the wet/dry vac did not encourage me to continue with that, but glad it works for others. We also put up a lot of the netting that MariposaMaid mentioned. If the deer don't eat the acorns and the acorns start sprouting, they're a lot harder to remove -- the acorns, that is.

"SSG, my advice would be to dissuade them from browsing your yard asap."

I totally agree. It's one of the reasons that I chased off deer whenever I found them in the front yard. Everything that is deer candy is fenced, but during the drought, the deer ate every deer resistant plant out there.

The big buck I chased off with the call of the rabid goose, would have only had to lean on my sturdy deer fence and he would have been in and destroyed the roses that Mrs. J, the previous owner of my home, had planted in front of the house.

I certainly don't want the deer to learn that this is a good snacking spot!

I have some netting in the shed but the snow hasn't melted back there so I can't open the door. Fortunately, most of the tasty stuff is in the backyard which is difficult to access.

I don't have a wet/dry vac or a lawn vac, but I do have a leaf blower that has a vacuum function.

SSG - Pat does not use the vacuum function on the leaf blower, she simply blows the acorns across the ground.