Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “deer”

14 Aug 2024
6 Comments

Oh, deer—such vandalism


They had been at it again. Just outside my window while I slept they wreaked havoc in my yard. Half-chewed apples lay scattered on the ground, a bed of sunflowers stripped of their leaves, petunias, cosmos, and other assorted flowers deprived of their blooms. The solar fountain lay wounded on the grass with its bitten supports scattered on the grass. The birdfeeder emptied.

Leave the hostas alone, thank you
No sunflowers this summer
Where are my petunias?
So much for cosmos
Seriously?

I won’t go into specifics but the garden marauders left evidence of their feasting in little pellet piles all over the yard.

Yes, the deer gang had been at it again. Terms of endearment on my part are being withheld.

Considering we’ve lived for nearly thirty years in a suburban pocket surrounded by woods we should be used to wildlife ravaging our garden from time to time. Admittedly, the animals are appreciated for their beauty and we still are mesmerized when they pass by the window, and we are even honored they feel safe enough in our yard to hang out with their babies, and yet it is so vexing that they terrorize my garden. Without accusatory fingers pointing too harshly, the deer are mainly to blame. I have yet to catch the moose, bear, and raccoons in the act of destruction, although they often leave evidence of their presence, which I see as a blatant “Ha, ha–been here and didn’t get caught” message. The deer have become my scapegoats because they are absolutely shameless.

Counter-deer terrorism strategy is to plant that which is not tasty to deer palettes such as day lilies and lavender. However, I do favor the annual punch of summer colors such as cosmos, petunias, and pansies though. Unfortunately so do the deer.

My neighbor had the same problem, even putting up a six foot cyclone fence around her veggie garden. Her hostas also took a hit. Probably the deer did so in retaliation for being separated from their salad needs.

Another neighbor resorted to one of those movement sprinklers. We inadvertently activated it on an early morning walk. I wasn’t even looking at their flowers.

My current deer deterrent strategy involves a spray mixture of Irish Spring soap. It works if I am diligent. If I forget, well, I guess the plants will grow back.

Think green

I have to take down the birdfeeder at night and rig a cage lid for the solar fountain.

Getting cagey with those deer

Yet for all my grousing I still get happy when I spot a deer in the yard, as long as they are passing through.

I don’t mind providing grits in winter since the garden is asleep
Resting up before night maneuvers
I know, it’s difficult to be angry with such cuteness factor (but do they have to decimate my hostas?)
Posted in Reflections and tagged , ,
18 Dec 2022
7 Comments

Winter Wonderland Once Again


As stated earlier, the travel bug has not bit us. We hunker down in winter and practice wishful thinking for warmer climates.

All in all, winter is for the birds. Really. That’s what we are doing for entertainment. We have enticed juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, sparrows, finches, a part time dove, and an infrequent flicker to our front yard with seed and such and sit back and enjoy the show.

Took Rocket J. Squirrel a few attempts to reach the feeder

We have a very basic feeder and try to keep it filled; however when it’s 19 degrees, with a brisky wind, finding alternative methods of feeding our feathered friends, like tossing food out the window for them onto the snow is the solution.

The seed buffet has garnered the attention of other critters: squirrels and deer. The squirrels are comical in how they try to avoid going through the snow to get to the food. They traverse on the branches above and tail twitch in frustration that they can’t quite reach the feeder. We spent a good hour observing how one squirrel finally took the plunge and dove into the snow, tunneling a track to feeder’s base to glean dropped seeds.

All you can eat seed buffet

The deer easily amble over to the feeder and lick seeds off the tray. They are not perturbed by our presence at the window.

We think this little guy looks like a burro so we have dubbed it Burrito

The most entertaining morning session was when the squirrel and deer arrived at the same time. The deer held their ground and would not acknowledge the squirrel’s attempts to mosey up to the seed feed. Old Rocket would inch up, tail twitching in anxiety and then Burrito would level a look that translated as “Excuse me?” and Rocket would hightail up the tree and pace the limb waiting, waiting, waiting for his turn.

Showdown at OK Feed and Seed

As for the birds—their territorial flutterings are reminiscent of playground squabbling. There is one white-crowned sparrow who is pro at fluffing up his feathers and chasing off the smaller birds from the seed buffet.

Like little kids playground squabbling

For most, the chosen winter sport is skiing, for us staying warm, while we watch from our chair side seats the front yard antics, suffices. Although, truthfully, after the third snow dump (and it’s still early December) I might just look into those Costco travel brochures that we pass by when we load up on birdseed. I imagine there are birds I can watch from a beachside balcony.

Posted in Animals, birds, humor, Reflections, winter and tagged , , ,
15 Aug 2021

Backyard Visitor


Site icon
Backyard Visitor
Posted in Reflections, Seasons, summer, Uncategorized and tagged , , | Leave a comment
03 Jul 2015
4 Comments

Why We Say #17: Getting it all said and done


What with National Poetry Month and school letting out, and getting ready for my Hamlet trip, I realize I’m remiss in getting out another edition of “Why We Say,” which is a look into the background of those words and phrases that are part of our everyday vernacular.

Why we say: A guidebook to current idioms…

Today’s chapter is all about “getting”:

1. Getting the sack

I’m glad when I go to work everything is pretty much set up for me. I wouldn’t want to lug around desks, books, whiteboards, markers, paper, computers–wow, there’s a lot involved in being a teacher. Although being a trades mechanic around 300 years ago meant I came to work toting my own tools in a sack. If the boss didn’t like my work he’d tell me to get the sack, which meant “Hit the road, Jack.”

2. Getting the third degree

Note: I am getting this down low on the low down about police procedures from this quaint second hand book. Please don’t accuse me of sterotyping, perpetuating urban myths, or promoting wrong ideas. This is a Cyndi Lauper exercise of just wanting to have some fun.

So when someone says, “Did you get the third degree?” you’ll know that it comes from [supposed] police techniques of the first degree being arrested, the second degree getting confined, and then getting reaching the third degree of being roughly questioned. Puts this saying into a different perspective. I’ll be looking for it when watching my next detective show. It guess this goes right along with third degree burn.
3. Getting into a scrape

Who knew deer could be devious? During certain times of the season, deer are known to dig out indentations in the ground to rest in. If someone isn’t watching where he is going he could fall into one of these antler scraped pits. I wouldn’t think so dearly of them deeries after nearly breaking my ankle from the whole hole.

And in summary–a really bad day, back in the day would involve getting the third degree about getting the sack, after getting into a scrape.
Posted in Expressions, Reflections, Words and tagged , , , , ,
05 Jan 2015
15 Comments

Why We Say: #13


Today we learn about earning our salt, eating humble pie, and listening in on conversations.

“He’s worth his salt.”
“Oh, she earned her salt today, that’s for sure.”

Hear of these expressions? If so, then you know it’s in reference to someone who is worth the amount of money they are being paid. In fact, the word “salary” is derived from the Latin word “salarium” which refers to the old Roman practice of providing soldiers their daily salt allowance. A soldier earning his salt ration was earning his keep.

This soldier is looking forward to his salting his paycheck away for a rainy day.image: morguefile

 

 

 

Have you ever had to eat humble pie? You know what I’m talking about–that moment when you’ve been humiliated or had to admit you were wrong. Not a great feeling, but it beats having to eat real humble pie, which is actually the “umbles” or the liver and organs of deer. Yummy–right? Yup, back in the day when English noblemen trotted around bagging deer while hunting, they saved the best for themselves and left the less desirable umbles for the servants. The servants wanting to make their leftovers a bit more tasty would pack the dear bits of deer into a pie. I suppose it would be rather humbling to eat this culinary fare.

“I wonder if Radio would be saying ‘Where my pie?'” on this flavor of the day?” image:morguefile

 

Eavesdropping has taken on a more sophisticated form of listening these days due to the Internet and its penchant for hacking in on conversations. Yet, in the way old days, going back to England, a law existed where houses had to have enough room for the eaves to drip on the owner’s property. It was quite easy to stand in these spaces under the eaves to listen in on inside conversations. People got the inside scoop by being outsiders. Not much has changed, has it?

Not everyone is interested in the wayward tidbit that comes floating by. image: morguefile

 

Posted in Expressions, Reflections, Words and tagged , , ,

Post Navigation