Looking out the living room window to the back yard, I'm seeing three Columbian black-tailed deer, enjoying the grass. Actually, they seem to particularly like the dandelion "bases" or "pads" in the grass, keeping them closely cropped, so that although yes, there are dandelions, we rarely see them actually produce flowers and puffs. The three rabbits out there do the same thing. Nice.
That's Antler Boy on the right, Doe-Doe in front, and Dody-Doe back left. Doe-Doe is attracted to Antler Boy, but Dody-Doe won't let her get near him, so next we see Doe-Doe relegated to the front yard, where she mends her broken heart by keeping the fuchsia bushes trimmed.
Do we have a problem with deer/rabbits eating our plants? Not this year. Last year they ate a LOT of the big hydrangea bush out front, and totally decimated the hostas next to the house in back. We have since discovered a product called "Liquid Fence," a foul-smelling concoction that we spray on the plants we want to protect. Deer/rabbits don't like the smell and keep their distance. We can't smell it within minutes of applying the spray, so it's a win-win product.
So this is what it looks like around here at the moment -- deer, rabbits, a lone raccoon the other day, three pairs of California quail, a family of at least two or three juvenile ravens who make a huge ruckus begging to be fed, towhees, juncos, lots of robins, a few Steller jays, nuthatches, brown creepers, northern flickers, a pair of pileated woodpeckers with one youngster, and (to the robins' dismay) occasional barred owls and great horned owls. It's a veritable jungle, and we are loving it.
©Carol Leigh
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