While I was out doing my daily exercise I noticed a group of Whitetails headed toward me from down the street. They were walking along the edge of the road. As they got closer to me they started heading off the road in a manner that would take them directly into my yard. I had to interrupt my exercise to let them pass.
At least 10, all Bucks with velvet antlers. The Bucks are grouped up this time of year as are the Does. However, it is a bit unusual to see this many Bucks together at one time, they are usually only in groups of 2-3.
Once they passed they headed right back to the edge of the road. They are always fun to watch, but they are also a PITB. They eat everything, including so called 'deer proof' plants. Although they do leave the Purple Sage (Ceniza). It's the only thing so far. They also poop and pee as they please. At certain times of the year, mostly Fall, there is enough to have a distinct odor. We have way more deer than the habitat can support and there is no predation so the population gets bigger and bigger. The tree huggers that have moved out here love the deer, to death. They even feed them corn to get them to come closer. I have seen them being fed by hand. This is not good. They lose their natural fear. The deer get no nutritional value from corn, but they love it. It's actually more like candy to them. Tastes great but is not good for you. It's hard to get them to stop this nonsense even when it is pointed out to them they are doing more harm than good. They are usually the first to gripe about their precious flowers getting decimated by them. It is not unusual for there to be as many as 15-20 deer gathered in my yard, mostly in the fall. In the summer you can see where several have bedded down for the night, the grass is laid flat. They seem to use the same spot over and over it gets so beat down.
While they are beautiful animals and fun to watch, I see them as a ready food source if TSHTF.
Happy Trails
3 comments:
Suppressed .22 through the eyeball, drag one in the garage, and voila, steaks! :-)
I have deer in my meadow most mornings. Strange thing is, my dogs don't chase the deer in the meadow, but if I take them out in the woods and they smell deer, I have to call them back or they'd run off into the forest on the deer trail.
I like deer. I'd eat them if I needed too, but I don't hunt them normally. Same with the wild turkeys. I like watching them in the morning as they grub around out in the meadow with my chickens. If it ever becomes necessary to hunt them, I will. But in normal times, I just enjoy their presence.
Old NFO-I have done that many years ago, when it was still like living in the country. Now we have too many houses around us, plus it has been made illegal to do that with less than 10 acres now.
Harry-yes, we just look at them and enjoy their beauty and silly antics at times. We can get within a few feet before they run off.
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