Oh Dear And Oh Deer

~ Bitchy After 60

The Oh Dear Part

So we woke up to white this morning. It blanketed everything and, according to the weather, it will be a messy combination of snow and rain here for the next day or so. It is quite chilly and damp. We actually had a couple of fires in the wood stove over the weekend. So much for an early spring. What you see above was my breakfast view.

 Last April I started working outside in the garden early in the month and didn’t stop until sometime in October. This, of course, was a detriment to my piano practicing because I literally didn’t touch the keys for seven months. It has been a tough comeback for my piano-playing skills, which are not that great to begin with since I only started lessons about three years ago. I honestly worked very hard to regain and surpass my lost skills. In order to avoid the same thing happening this year I will need to schedule in some practice a few times a week.  

Currently I am working on Yesterday (The Beatles), which I can play slowly but am trying to play a little faster, and a bluesy number from my lesson book called Good People, which is quite fun to play like all the bluesy things I have been exposed to in this book.

The problem is that I love being outside from spring to fall when I get inspired by new gardening projects or the urge to kayak. Or just to walk in the mornings. Don’t get me wrong, I do go outside in the winter to walk as well, but there are so many other things to do outside during the rest of the seasons. Fingers crossed that I can fit everything in, including piano over the sunny months. JT, my son and piano teacher (via FaceTime) has offered to give me summer lessons to support the cause. Gotta love him!

The Oh Deer Part

I looked out my dining room window a few weeks ago to see five deer chomping on this poor euonymus. This is a shrub that keeps its leaves in winter. I yelled at them. I clapped. I ventured quite close to them while doing this and they just glanced up at me and kept on chomping. Finally, I whistled. Not your average whistle because I can’t do just an average whistle. I can, however make a loud and shrill noise through my vibrating lips that sounds exactly like a gym whistle. Don’t ask me how. I really don’t know. It is something I figured out when I was a teenager over fifty years ago. And it scared the deer. At least this time around. They have really decimated some things in my garden and this is before any lovely tender green shoots have ventured out. I battled them last gardening season and I will be doing it again this season. 

With them in mind, I have been out a few chilly but sunny days to work on some homemade deer fencing. This is because I feel that doing something is better than doing nothing, and I researched some solutions that will hopefully deter the buggers from some parts of my yard. It is impossible to fence in my entire yard as the critters can just walk down my drive way. But they often enter at the sides so this is where I am concentrating my efforts. Seven foot metal posts with 6 rows of thirty pound test fishing line is my fencing of choice, plus additional deer netting in certain areas. It is a huge job. I even purchased a manual post pounder last fall to aid in the project. I am thinking it should work if they are not stampeding through, which they usually aren’t. They tend to saunter across the property lines. The idea is that they will brush up against the line and turn away, because they are are very conscious of not damaging their legs and will avoid the unknown barrier. Again fingers crossed.

If you look closely, you will see the snow clinging to the fishing line of my fencing, along with a snow- laden, top-heavy spruce tree bending over and threatening the lines.

All I can say is that it is going to be a busy and interesting three seasons. 

Thank you for reading

Photos: Jenn Stone

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31 thoughts on “Oh Dear And Oh Deer”

  1. We had flurries but no accumulation today, but it is so damp, cold, and windy out there you can’t do anything without winter gear on. Bah humbug. As for deer, I wonder what we all spend trying to deter them. I know I contribute to the coffers. I have a neighbor that feeds them, and then for dessert they come here.

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    1. Yes, not the weather for someone suffering from spring fever. As for the deer, it is becoming a pain for my pocketbook. But I have invested a lot in my garden over the past 20 years. I hate to see it destroyed. Most of the neighbours here love the deer as well. At least all those without gardens.

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  4. We had a few flurries today as well but it didn’t stick like yours.
    Sorry the deer ruined your shrub. I guess we’re lucky with our herd… we put out a little sweet grain and they leave our gardens alone.

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  6. Wow! and here we are actually having a spring for a change complete with warm sun and dry-for-a-change weather. The hills are even starting to dry out now. Mind you, we’ve had snow in June here before – I once went to work in my lovely cloth shoes (broderie anglaise) and had to walk home 2 miles through a decent depth of snow!

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  7. Wow! You definitely have snow! I hope you get to enjoy some spring soon. My mother was an avid gardener and grew everything, flowers, trees, shrubs and roses as well as vegetables and fruit. She always made a concoction of garlic, hot chili peppers and rotten eggs, let them all soak together for a week (could have been more) and then put the liquid in a spray bottle to apply to the plants. It was gag-inducing (it was my job to do the spraying), no kidding. She also planted lavender all through her vegetables as deer don’t like it. She had varying success with these methods and the spray constantly had to be re-applied. The best though was letting our dog out (a terrier-lab cross) who loved to bark at them. That would keep them away for several days but then they would try again. Good luck with this. I don’t think there are any complete or sure-fire methods.

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    1. Ha ha. That sounds like quite the concoction your mother mixed up. I actually purchased spray that has to be reapplied every couple of weeks. I just can’t spray everything. It would cost a lot and be a full-time job. I plan to use it on specific things. Maybe I should just get another dog. We had one some years ago, before we had a deer problem.

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      1. Since the spray was homemade it didn’t cost anything (except your sense of smell if you got a whiff without fully covering your nose!) but was labour-intensive. It had to be sprayed pretty much every day if it rained or drizzled. The lavender seemed to work fairly well too but only when in bloom. I think a dog might be your best bet. Cheers.

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  10. Wow, I miss snow, but not that much snow! Here in Australia we are heading into Autumn, my absolute favorite season… good luck with the deer. Feral deer have begun impacting our national parks, so they’re going to be a big headache in a few years 😦

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    1. I don’t usually mind the snow now that I am retired and don’t have to drive to work in it. But I do mind it in April.
      The deer have only started to be a problem in the past 3 or 4 years. It is only going to get a lot worse though.

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  11. We have the “oh dear it’s deer” problem around here. This year I’m going proactive with something called Deer No No. Supposedly by placing these little nontoxic scent bombs around plants like roses and geraniums the deer will steer clear. We’ll see won’t we?

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    1. I will have to look into that product, but I would need a whole lot of them given the size of my garden. I have a lot of plants they don’t like and a lot of plants they do like. Between the fencing and selective spraying I am hoping for some success.

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  13. We awoke to snow yesterday am. It turned to rain. Maybe today spring will arrive?!? Who knows. Life on the Canadian prairies is always too “something” (wet/dry/hot/cold/windy), so we just learn to roll with it. The best option for deer deterrent is a barking dog, but they need to spend most of the day and night upside for total success.

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      1. I have one who would barking 24 – 7 or so it seems. I have zero close neighbours so it’s not an issue. Although seriously she only barks if something in the landscape moves. Like everything!

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