The return of my four legged foes.

The squirrels, groundhogs and rabbits have finally lost interest in the garden…I think. I haven’t seen them in there for a while anyway.

Of course it’s never as easy as they lose interest and the woodland creatures stop eating my garden. Nope, it never works like that. The small furry creatures lost interest and the deer have made a come back.

There used to be more plant there.

Our tomato plants are huge and they are close to the fence on the one side. It’s the perfect hight for the deer to reach their long necks over the fence and nibble away on my tomatoes. SERIOUSLY?!?

First the mama stopped by for a snack, then she brought her babies.

THIS IS NOT YOUR PERSONAL SALAD BAR!

Mmmm, tasty leaves.

I’m seriously considering electrifying the fence for next year. Come near my garden and ZAP! you’re knocked into next week.

Thankfully it would appear that they haven’t done too much damage (yet) and I’ve been chasing them away whenever I catch them out there. I’m still wishing I could handle the air riffle, a little shot to the butt would probably do the trick. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to keep yelling at them like a crazy person and running out into the yard.

Do you have pesky woodland creatures making a meal out of your garden? What are you doing to keep them away?

OK, we don’t really live in the wilderness per say, but we do have a lot of open space around The Hill. As a result of that open space we do tend to see a lot of woodland creatures passing through the yard on their way here or there. You name it and it’s been through, raccoon, skunk, fox, feral cats, squirrels, and the biggest of our visitors are the deer. There’s a herd that frequent our yard and have made pests out of themselves in regard to The Mommyland Farm.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but The Hill is not in a neighborhood, we are situated off a semi-major road in the township. Take that semi-major road and add our woodland friends and you’re bound to see some roadkill now and again.

Yesterday was one of those days when vehicle met deer and the vehicle won. Of course this had to happen at the bottom of our driveway. The silver lining in this story is that the body landed on the other side of the road and not in our yard.

This dead deer was kind enough to give me yet another opportunity to have to explain the circle of life to my children.

Enter stage right…The school bus.

Gee thanks bus driver for pulling towards the center of the road so Cameron didn’t have to get up close and personal with a putrid deer carcass first thing Monday morning…Oh wait. Cameron was less than pleased with having to walk so close to the thing and I’m quite sure that his experience with getting on the bus this morning will result in night terrors.

Oh no, the excitement didn’t end there. Picture for a moment a bus, chuck full of elementary school kids, screaming at the sight of a (fairly large) dead buck just outside the window. I’ve never seen so many children move so quickly on a Monday morning as they all rushed to the one side of the bus for a better look. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t tip the bus over with the rapid shifting of weight.

After the excitement for the kids on the bus I called the Game Commission straight away…and was laughed at. Seriously, don’t you people have kids? I guess my colorful explanation of my morning with our dearly departed woodland friend was an unexpected way for her to start her day.

I gathered my things to head out and by that point the vultures had descended. Now I have that song stuck in my head; “It’s the circle of life, and it moves us alllllll.”

Thankfully by the time I got home he had been removed…Or so I thought. A huge thank you to the Chester County Game Commission for heave hoing the damn thing about ten feet further from the road! That’ll really help with the stench.

Here’s the before picture. He was sticking his tongue out on this day, but that Buick got the last laugh. Let this deer’s story be a lesson to us all, don’t let your need for some lovin’ let you forget to look both ways. Talk about looking for love in all the wrong places.

May he rest in peace.