Smorgasbord

This morning I was standing at my kitchen window, cleaning my tea cup for that beautiful first cup of morning tea, when I spied the Devil with huge brown eyes staring me down. Standing in the middle of my yard, in the early morning light was the Devil in fawn's clothing. Yes, I did say Devil and for those of us who toil in our gardens that is what these creatures are.





They are the prima dona's of the animal world. They don't scavenge like a raccoon. They are not sneaky like a fox. They aren't skittish like the coyote. They are brazen, bold, blinded by their own cuteness. They are conniving. They know they are graceful and beautiful to watch. That is why they move in that deliberate way. Have you ever wondered why they stop and stare at you from the side of the road? Just to make sure you are watching when they bound into the woods and disappear.

If you don't have a garden then you probably feel as I once did, that they are sweet wondrous creatures and why not share a little lettuce with them? But once you have caught the gardening virus and your temperature rises with each chewed leaf and nibbled tomato plant it's a whole new game. A game of wits and speed. A game of staring down and scaring away. As I stood in the kitchen and stared out my window, eyes locked with Satan, I started developing my strategy. But I knew neither us of would back down.

Another deer made his way out of the woods and stopped short when he saw his companion still in the middle of our yard. I think the deer in our area have a communication going. I think Walt Disney was onto something when he created Bambi. They do talk and right now they are talking about our garden. We have the only garden in our immediate neighborhood ( because everyone else has pretty much given up and getting anything they can actually eat once the deer are done feasting). So I believe the chain of communication has spread wide and far. When they are tired of the grass and other "wild " things they migrate through the woods and over the golf course and find their way to the buffet on Penfield Hill Road. They talk about the sweet leaves of tomato plants and parsley and nibbles of carrots and pepper plants. They discuss how best to jump over our rustic yet inefficient fence and the best time to avoid the dog ( who by the way was in the front yard as I was staring down the deer in the back yard).

So we're upping the anty. A higher fence, bells to make noise when they get close to plants that are staked. And a recording of my voice saying ," Don't even think about it." There has to be a way to outsmart them. Ignore their looks. Ignore those big brown eyes , bring on the challenge. Game is on!