Oh dear! Oh! Deer!
We’re coming up on five years living in Southeast Missouri next month and something that is equally delightful and frustrating are the deer that wander (or sometimes stampede!) through our yard daily. We live along a waterway between two wooded areas and the deer make forays from woods to woods daily. We’ve counted as many as 42 deer running through the yard at one time! Forty-two! That’s not a typo, and it is quite a sight to see! But I like it even better when they calmly graze on the hill, keeping a watchful eye on us.
When we were looking at our house with the Realtor five years ago, two deer were grazing on the neighbors’ lawn on the hill behind our house. We thought that was so cool! And when we got back to Kansas after signing the contract to buy our house, we looked at the photos we’d taken and realized that a deer had been quietly watching us from the woods as we inspected the house. (Do you see her?)
Not long after we moved in July of 2019, the mamas started bringing their fawns to play on the lawn each evening. Every spring, they are a source of constant delight and entertainment. And just yesterday we spotted the first tiny fawn of this spring. There’s a 2-second video below of mama chasing the fawn into the safety of the woods. (Don’t blink or you’ll miss it!)
Dear deer. Often there are twins, and we love watching them grow. During the fall rut, we get to see some pretty crazy battles between bucks. (You have to look closely as they are so well camouflaged against the leaves!)
The buck stops here! Or several bucks stopped here. 😉 Usually the does and fawns far outnumber the bucks, but apparently there was a little convention going on when Ken snapped this photo last summer.
It’s an impressive sight in winter to see the deer gather on the snowy hill behind our house. (They apparently weren’t worried about standing in the middle of a sledding trail!)
Our biggest frustration with the deer has come as we’ve tried to plant some pretty trees, bushes, and flowers in the yard. We estimate those stinkers have eaten or destroyed about $1000 worth of new plants over the five years we’ve lived here. Grrr! There are only a few things they haven’t touched—ferns and lantana being chief among them. But even many plants labeled “deer-resistant” don’t seem to be safe from these critters. Even leaving the treat of a watermelon rind for them to snack on makes no difference.
We’ve tried repellant sprays, human hair, Irish Spring soap shavings, and plenty of other remedies recommended to us, all to no avail. Finally, we’ve just decided to count the deer as the “pretty things” in our backyard, fill a few pots with ferns, lantana, and colorful fake flowers, and call it a day.
I’ve moved my writing desk closer to the new arched window now that it’s spring. The views into the woods are always inspiring!
Do you see deer where you live? If so, do you consider them a delight or a nuisance? Do you have any great deterrents that aren’t already on the list of things we’ve tried?
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No deer where I live. Closer to the river and the mountains, they can be spotted, but I’m too far out in what naturally is the desert, although it’s all suburbs now. But my daughter and her husband live close to the Boise River (which is also close to the Boise Front mountain range) so they see lots of various wildlife there. They’ve even had raccoons come in through the pet door (which they now keep locked at night).
We have raccoons too and sometimes I wonder if we blame the deer when it was actually a coon! Your tale makes me glad we don’t have a pet door!
We have lots of bunnies–especially in the spring. Your deer and your property are lovely. Congrats on 5 happy years in Missouri!
Thanks so much, D’Ann! We see more raccoons than bunnies here. I guess I should be glad because bunnies eat stuff too. Haha!
In our dream home, we were surrounded by deer – not so many as you though! What wonderful memories! In this phase of our life, we’re surrounded by birds. (And the neighbors’ intrigued cats!) Thank you for sharing such gorgeous pictures. Outside and in! How blessed you are.
We love birds too, Jennifer. What a beautiful world God made for us to enjoy!
Oh Deb,
They’re so pretty! I would love seeing them, but we don’t see them in our neighborhood. However, those who live closer to the woods have that blessing. I can imagine how they could be a nuisance if you’re trying to grow something though. I used to live in a neighborhood that bordered a large national park, and often saw complaints in our neighborhood news about deer coming into the yards that backed up to the park. I always thought it was silly to complain, since deer don’t know boundaries. I know some fences work, but not all, however, I think I would just live with them as best I could. Connie Stevens often posts pictures of deer behind her house. I wonder what they use to keep them from eating their flowers, etc.? Of course, barking dogs might help too.
Yes, we just live with them and count our blessings. We’d hate to fence the yard in because even a pretty fence wouldn’t be a nice as having all the neighboring yards meld into one pretty park-like yard for us all!
Loved seeing your deer photos, Deb! I’m sorry you’ve had problems with them eating your plants, but they do create a very picturesque scene for you out your windows. 😉
We have a few deer in our backyard every week or so, but sadly it’s because there’s too much building going on in our county right now and the poor forest creatures have no place to go—really sad. So the small cluster of woods behind our yard provides a haven for them, and I love seeing them visit in the early evenings. We used to have bunnies, but not many this year.
Now cats are another story—word has quickly spread among all the local felines and they know where to find good food and treats (my front porch, lol). 🙂
Oh, that made me laugh, Patti Jo. I had a feeling it was your front porch you were referring to. I know you love those kitties! 🙂
Thank you for sharing the pictures of your dear deer – so interesting and lovely.
We have squirrels and bunnies. When I plant new flowers in spring, our bunnies sometimes grab a few, but I don’t mind sharing, because they are such fun to watch. Early morning hours or dusk is the best time to see them.
Early morning or dusk is when our deer usually come through also. But when the fawns arrive, the does tend to stick around for more of the day, which I just love. We’re just going to adopt your philosophy of “don’t mind sharing” and enjoy God’s creation! 🙂
We have deer at the lake house and consider them a delight! But the landscape there is mostly just untamed nature, so we haven’t run into the frustration of them eating our plantings. 🙂
We’re just considering them a delight too now, Becky. And we’re not buying any more $200 trees, no matter how pretty! We have plenty of trees already. Haha!
We get deer here too and love seeing them, even if my mom doesn’t appreciate them nibbling on her plants. One of them had a teeny tiny baby in the past few weeks and I love watching it out the window! And just yesterday, a doe with twins was in the woods and the twins were having fun zooming back and forth. xD
As for deer repellent, there used to be a spray called “Deer Off” that had lion pee in it, among other things, and that worked great… but it’s since disappeared from the market and I don’t know what happened to it. Since then, Mom has switched to “Liquid Fence: Deer and Rabbit” spray. It’s not *quite* as good as Deer Off was, but it works a lot better than nothing. A quick Google search says the Deer Off brand now sells this plastic thingy that has dried animal blood in it to scare off the deer, but that sounds like a good way to have all the local dogs and coyotes dig up your garden to find what died…
Anyway… You can, apparently, buy pure mountain lion pee in spray form and it’s supposed to be highly effective, but my family hasn’t tried that yet. XD
Wow! There are some solutions I hadn’t heard about. Haha!
Like you, I love watching the fawns zoom back and forth. They look like they’re having such fun!
No “dear deer” here, Deb. I’m about 2 miles from undeveloped land and our city limits. That said, there’s an 18-hole golf course between me and that boundary and just occasionally we see a visitor wander down the street. I think they like to visit the golf course when it’s quiet and just get lost on our block. I loved your pics and those adorable babies. Thanks for sharing!
Haha! I can see why a deer might love to visit a pretty golf course now and then.
Once your car is totaled hitting one of those creatures, you see them in a different light! Scared the daylights out of me as one appeared out of nowhere one late December afternoon. Yes, they are sweet and beautiful, but they can cause a LOT of damage.
Oh, wow! I’m so sorry you had that experience! And yes, we’re very aware of them when we’re driving, especially at night.