about to hate deer

the three wheeled (with wheel in front) isn't as stable as the kind with the seat (with four wheels). I like the three wheeled better ...zippier and turns in tight circle easier - less torque on the knee --but it can get away from you and so not as good for her now.

with docs script some medicare replacement plans cover and my experience has been regular straight medicare covers ...and then...it doesn't... so go figure.

LOL "Uphill both ways" Are you talking about my yard? I'm mowing for the first time in years. Between Ric and the boys I can't remember when I last mowed. I was just thinking Sally we need a general chat thread we are way off topic. LOL

Mom has had pretty much non-stop therapy - physical, speech and/or occupational - since last July and regular Medicare has paid for every penny of it.

LOL HOlly the yard.
Hey, I just eddited a post a ways back to let new readers know we went way off topic. There was plenty of good deer advice in the beginning , for sure. Chat away! Actually, this way we won't add another somewhat personal, possibily clique-seeming, thread to the main list.

hert--that's great! While we were in the ER there was a new severe stroke case. I heard the grandson telling someone on the phone. Scary stuff.

Holly, I think the next 'step' below walker is the cane with four pronged bottom. Pop might want to go to that if he feels he's restricted by the walker. In this case, the hosp may ahve ordered and gotten Mediacre for the walker, but he'd probably buy his own cane. Wlell, I have just been very grateful for twhat Medicare adn insurance HAS covered thru moms many problems.

Well this may be a little "off topic" but it does relate to DEER! I had a really scary encounter yesterday and thought I'd share it with you. I was watering inside one of the hoop houses yesterday morning and looked up to see a deer walking behind the nursery house. I see them there all the time because it's a favorite place for them to hang out in the shade during the heat of the day. I always holler at them when I see them and this time was no exception. HOWEVER, when I screamed at her this time to "get out of here" I got the shock of my life when instead of running off she headed straight for me and FAST! It's a good thing there was still plastic on the bottom half of the house because I think she would have charged right in! I'm still shaking just thinking about how scared I was. She stormed past me (I could see her through the plastic) grunting at me the whole time and I quickly realized why she was so upset when I heard the blatting of her fawn in the distance :( I lost sight of her for a few minutes, grabbed a trash can to block the door and thought maybe I could ward her off with a blast from the hose? I don't think anything would have stopped her at this point and I had visions of her standing on her back legs and pummeling me, she was mad! Realized I needed to make a fast run for the car and once I was safely inside called Rick to let him know what was going on. I drove the car slowly up the hill looking for her and sure enough she crossed in front of me, made the loop around the driveway and there she was again, she had a crossed the driveway behind me! All of a sudden I heard the fawn again and the teeny little thing came running up the driveway where it joined its mother and they both headed into the woods in the opposite direction toward the creek. Whew! Figured they'd be happy there together cooling off by the creek and I headed back to finish watering but never without thinking about the possibility of her returning. Just when I've finally settled down and head to the next house for watering, sure enough she's at the back of that house blowing at me! Thankfully the big truck was parked there and I scrambled to jump inside quick. Waited a few minutes and when I couldn't see her (or hear her!) quietly got out and ran as fast as I could back to my car! I drove home and told Rick there was no way that house was getting watered right away. I'm still paranoid about going back today but I do know one thing, I'm not going to holler at the deer anymore :(

The deer won. She sure has the heck scared out of you. Unless she is rabid which is very rare all she was doing is chasing you out of the range of her fawn or fawns. During this time of year events of this nature are quite common. I can assure you that mother knew exactly where you were at all times. She felt danger for her offspring. If your sound would have been a snort, a fawn blat or foot stomp sound she might have thought your sound was another deer.

She may have dropped them near by. They are up and walking within a few hours. They are moving pretty good in two or three days. She will move herself and the fawns away form human activity as soon as possible unless she is a pet deer which is always possible. Deer that have become dependent on humans are nearly always the ones that have been led to human association. Then when they get scared or for any reason revert to the wild they attack but only if they have no escape route or you are read as some kind of danger. This is most noticed in the rutt when the buck trys to protect his doe. If they are hand fed they will run up to a human any time looking for food. I feel pretty sure she was protecting her young. Sounds to me like she did a pretty good job. LOL

What a story! Phew. Thanks for sharing.
And glad you were careful (scared witless? or something else ---itless LOL)
Gary Paulsen writes young adult stories and also true stories from time in the woods and hunting and sled dogging. (very interesting for me as I only 'think' I know a lot about nature. I really don't) But deer can kill. Very sad. Like you said, lash out forward with the front and that's the end of the story.

doc can you recommend what one should do in this situation? make a more deer like or unthreatening noise? no noise and be still?

LOL Doc, yes the deer did win! I've seen plenty of does with their fawns but have never had this experience before. One time when I was driving the back of the nursery property there was a doe and fawn and I stopped so they could cross in front of me. The fawn walked right up to my car window and the doe never protested. Last month I was about 500' from another doe while collecting rocks. I always holler at them, whistle or clap my hands so they'll know this is MY territory and they don't belong here. This time the doe didn't flinch, just stared at me and I figured there had to be a young'un close by. Sure enough about 5 min later I saw her small fawn following her up through the field. Stormyla commented on the other site: "Animals have incredible memories relative to recognizing individual humans". Maybe I should wear my hat from now on and she won't recognize me? I'll be waiting to hear if you have an answer to Sally's question of what you'd recommend. Maybe I should have started blowing or snorting at her? I can mimic a turkey and have "blown" at a few deer as well! LOL

Poor Debbie! I'm picturing you heading back there wearing those glasses with the fake nose and mustache attached. The anti-deer disguise. LOL

A few years ago I had a mama deer and baby who came into the yard for weeks to eat the crabapples from the tree right next to my kitchen. I didn't try to scare her off - they were welcome to the crabs - and she didn't run off (or charge) when I was pretty close by working in the yard. She never bothered any of the other plants in the yard. I guess the crabapples were better than anything. After the crabs were gone, I never saw her and the baby again.

I'm always careful driving home at night, especially later at night, because there are so many deer out here darting into the road. I was coming home about 10 pm last night and saw something white in the road - it was the white flash of the belly of a deer lying in the road, blocking most of the lane.

It was still alive, kicking its legs. I think the car in front of my must have hit it because I never saw his tail lights veer over into the other lane like I had to do to avoid hitting it. The guy in front of me was in a big rush, had been tailgating me because I was only going about 40-45. Several miles back, I had put on my turn signal to pull over at the first roadway I came to in order to let him by. Before I could turn off, he flew around me.

If he did hit the deer, he didn't stop. Luckily I was only a couple of minutes from home - cell phones don't work out here because of the mountains - so I called the county police as soon as I got here. They sent someone out. Aside from the fact that it was obviously hurt and suffering, I was afraid someone would wreck because if it being in the road.

We who live with the deer and hunt them for freezer venison sometimes really get to know the deer's every trick. I would have just been still. They can not see at all well in daylight. They can not turn corners fast. If I needed to jump aside that would be when the deer was just a few feet in front of me. My next stop would be in a shed or behind tree. Once seeing or scenting you the deer would have run away. With fawn she was most likely being very brave and chasing you. At the least trying to get you to leave the area perceived to be her nursery for that fawn. Indeed it may have been a fake attack because she was not quite sure where you were. They can not reason. There every action is based on various responses to anything that looks or sounds different and escape from the known. What they can not see and understand can be their undoing because they will often stand still, snort or stomp a foot trying to get the unknown to move so they in fact escape from the encounter in the right direction. Answers like this can not be black and white fact. The deer can not reason. It can only move to get away or to chase as I think was the case in this report. As to what else I might do? I might try to emulate any sound or action she might be making or taking. Sometimes this settles them down because the response was a deer sound or move.

In Pennsylvania road kill may be picked up and salvaged with permission. There are so many here that quite a few get salvaged without the trouble of calling for permission.
That of course is a game law violation. May I point out that it is not one of God's laws. Deer are in our food chain. I personally really like venison.

We eat venison and have had many a call from friend or neighbor asking if Ric could come as they hit a deer and weren't quite sure what to do.
RCN, What a great story, scary but great. You will be telling that one for years. What an experiance.
Hart. LOL Glasses and fake nose LOL

I use venison when recipes call for beef, unless I can find (and afford!) organic beef. We also make Italian sausage from it. It's nice lean meat and is home grown, basically!

I was reading fast and thought Holly said "asked if Ric could come hit a deer..." LOL

I am going to add German shepard hair to Moms flower pots. Make em think there's a wolf nearby

wow is that frightening... glad you are ok... I heard a deer "blowing" last week for the first time... I did not head to the back of the property because I could not see what was making that noise.... later on I saw the deer up there and saw it was it making that noise... the next day I smelled a nasty odor ... wondering if it lost a fawn back in the woods... then the next day I saw a huge black vulture sitting on my shed... not a turkey one... so I am guessing I was right... I chased that vulture away from the dogs though... never saw a bird so big in my life... I am guessing it was as tall as my chest... totally freaky

Wow

it was not this... not sure what it was.. but it did not have a red head like a TV.. looked like something out of a sci-fi movie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Black_Vulture

Doc, thanks for the suggestions :) I think I've learned my lesson and I'll just be "silent" in the future! I was a wreck heading down to water yesterday and kept my eyes open at all times, searching the edge of the field and woods. Now I have a better idea why she was so upset. I did see her again yesterday when she walked out into the open at the far end of the property when I was about half done with my watering. Probably not necessary since I was being quiet but I wasn't taking any chances and finished watering walking backward instead of forward so I could keep my eye on her! LOL She was keeping her eye on me too as not one, but TWO fawns came out behind her and proceeded to run around in the driveway in front of her! After telling my daughter the story she wrote me yesterday morning and told me she thinks it's "deer revenge" for all the years I baked muffins and had coffee ready for all the hunters who hunted on our property in Maine every November! LOL

Allison, I had never seen a Turkey Vulture until I moved to VA and they are one of the ugliest birds and BIG! We also have Black Vultures here but we don't see them as often. I always know when there's a dead animal around because the TV's will fill a tree sitting and waiting for the "right" moment. I don't know much about them other than they have a keen sense of smell and it almost seems like they scope out the kill and then wait until it's "ripe"? I'm always amazed how fast a deer carcass becomes a skeletal mass when they finally move in!

By simple numbers of the population the Canadian and American Crows clean up way more than the vultures. With two to four of them working a rabbit only lasts an hour or two if the birds are not disturbed. I find it utterly amazing how strong their neck and beaks are to enable the job of cleaning up the floor of the world. They do better than government employees. They don't have a shovel that needs held upright. ]:o)

LOL doc!

Vultures are incredible when you finally see one on the ground and close enough to get the scale.

it was on my shed roof... but the size still scared the bejewels out of me

About five years ago we fed a juvenile black vulture who had a wing injury and couldn't fly and hunt with the group. He ate almost two pounds of raw meat per day and would come when we rang the dinner bell or just appear in the front garden when he was hungry. He stood about waist high and his wings were big. One day Vulcan actually took meat from my friend's hand. He came to be fed the next day and after that we didn't see him again.

Wonderful to be that close to such a large bird. Oh, the juveniles still have lots of feathers and fluff on their heads and necks..

Judy

This message was edited Jun 20, 2010 10:35 AM

Along the rivers that have shad runs vultures sometimes become a problem when the shad run out. They then invade towns and villages raiding garbage cans and road kill rabbits in town. The biggest problem is their poopers all over the roof lines and possible disease sources. When they put a load on your newly washed car "it 'aint no Genny Wren. They also raid marinas looking for fish wastes.

I live on 14 acres in the middle of a forest with a big creek as one of my boundaries. The deer are rampant and HUGE! I mostly grow things they don't usually eat but I do grow some of their favorites near the house. I make my own deer repellent and it has worked for many years. It does need to be resprayed after heavy rain and I reapply every 10 days even if it has not rained. It is so much cheaper than the bought stuff which would break the bank quickly around here. I make a concentrate and then just put a cupful in a small sprayer and fill with water. I have used this on all types of annual flowers and perennials. I have a lot of hostas in pots and unless I forget to spray, I keep them all summer even though large does are in my yard all the time.

Concentrate:

1 dozen rotten eggs blended to an emulsion with a little water and 1 tbls. of veg. oil BEFORE they get rotten (easy to make the solution rotten smelling by placing the container outside in the heat for a while; I actually let a couple of batches rot in the basement over the winter)

1 bottle of fish emulsion fertilizer

3 packed cups of fresh herb leaves blended to a smooth emulsion with 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of veg. oil - don't use the woody stems of the herbs, only the tender leaves so that you don't have any bits of plant material which will clog your sprayer (you can use mint, rosemary, etc. - these 2 herbs seem to work the best and keep their strong odor the longest)

1/2 cup of ivory soap

**Shake the concentrate well before you pour out a cup to put in the sprayer. I mix my concentrate in a big bucket and store it in liquid laundry soap bottles I have thoroughly rinshed out. I use the cup on top of the bottle to measure out for the sprayer. Some summers I make a lot of concentrate and then use it for 2-3 years. It stores just fine and gets "riper" with age! It stinks to high heaven when you are applying it but there is no odor the next day. I only apply at dusk to make sure the plants don't get burned. Works for me!

This message was edited Jun 20, 2010 2:58 PM

Does the soap function as a spreader/sticker?? Have you thought to add that? Are the eggs raw or are you boiling them first to let them get rotten?

If anyone wants to try that scarecrow motion detecting sprinkler thing, QVC has it and has five easy pays TODAY ONLY, so it would be about $16 a month for five months.

I tried the homemade sprays and they worked okay as long as I was spraying constantly. That doesn't work on 4 plus acres.

My neighbor up the road has the sprayer (she has beautiful gardens...sigh..) anyway, she said the sprayer worked for a while and now the deer just come for a summer squirt to cool down. Doesn't stop them from munching.

Save your money. That sprayer only works about as long as anything but a good fence.

good to know.. I was thinking about that as well

I was going to look for one of those fountains that clunck and chase the deer..... and figured I could move it around the yard each week... LOL

Onewish, You could hire me to plantherd for you. I'd keep watch over the phlox by day and the hostas by nite. and Id move around the yard all by myself!

Some one should invent a robot like that vacuum cleaner thing that would roam ones property scaring deer , But on second thought the vultures might get it, or at least poop all over its sensors.

Sally, I have special rates for locals.

Seems that almost anything (water spray, sound, scent, barrier, etc) will startle and disuade a deer from their usual browsing routines. Now, how to get them to routines that don't include our prized plants.

LOL

I like that idea CU... do it... could get rich!!!

I should have kept my mouth shut about not haveing deer for quite some time now. They have reappeared. They hit our hosta big time in just the past two nights. Did not see any other damage yet. They came during the night. One of my tips was seeing the bird's water fountain nearly empty in the AM. The three pear tree drops were all cleaned up too.

This will cause no major problem just yet. I do not think the numbers are up because we do not see them in the neighborhood as we drive in and out.

Doc, Sorry to hear that. What if anything will you do to stop them from coming back to get the rest of your hostas?

I just realized that the reason the. deer, though i have seen them at least weekly , have not bothered my plants might have something to do with my neighbors. Across from me one has a large unfenced garden. Looks like about 50 ears of corn will be ripe by 4th of July. My new neighbors are four young men who seem to be able to party into the wee hours of the morning about 5 times a week with their friends. One of their favorite things is tossing their empty beer bottles from the deck into 3 recycle bins below for which they get points. The sound of those bottles startles me so maybe it is scaring the deer, too. (Maybe I'll make a recording of same to have in my plantherder tool kit)

Judy

At seventy five years young I will do nothing . If I did anything now it would have to be a fence. I can no longer harvest them due to close neighbors. Years ago I had venison in the freezer most of the year. Now I have only the one or two I can harvest leagally in hunting season. Fences are costly and maintenance problems at the same time. They are highly regulated in our township which is a pain.

I am not able to do anything because I do not want fence and the other ideas have all been tried and only work for the first five to ten days. Anything that will work is now illeagal and with such close neighbors they keep me honest.

We have found DeerAway to work really well. When I first read about it the information said that Weyerhauser used it on their huge tree farms in Washington or Oregon, and I figured if it worked for them it would work for us. You don't have to apply it very often, either; it doesn't mind rain. You just have to treat any new foliage.