May 1, 2008

You know what I could use a nice, fresh from the garden raspberry sauce on?

Venison. Doesn't that sound yummy? I sure think it does.

Gee... I wonder where I could pick up some nice... fresh venison.

Hmm... maybe if I set up a bear trap next to my rose bush, I could snatch up a nice fresh bit of venison.

*sigh*

I'm not trying to sound evil... well... maybe a little (though I should feel bad about my thoughts, particularly given what my friend Foz just recently went through at his job) however... I'm relatively ticked off at the deer that I found in my back yard.

You know, the back yard that has been fenced off to prevent deer from wandering through?

Granted, we are not entirely gated off. There is about a 6 foot span of space on the side of our house that is only blocked by a make-shift temporary fence to keep deer out until such time as Dan can finish that gate. This area is a steep slope, ending in a retaining wall that leaves about a 3 foot wide path to walk down along the side of the house. Technically they could jump from the slope down into the fire pit in the back yard, step up to the deck and be in the yard... however the deer around here are lazy, and tend to avoid being that close to the house. I've watched them from my dining room... several times... wander along that slope, hit the temp fence, and wander back. Why jump into what is clearly a "human zone" when there is so much nature to mope around in?

The deer today is apparently of the ambitious sort. I didn't see where he came in from.. but there are only 3 possibilities.

1) Since the undergrowth of the neighbor's house has been cleared, it now has enough room to get a running start and leap the 8 foot chain link into our yard.

2) It came from the side of the house and actually wandered in through the fire pit, up onto the deck, and into the yard

or

3) It squeezed through the space between our fence post and the neighbor's fence post (which from a distance doesn't look that wide, but this sucker was kinda skinny)

If he jumped, there is nothing we can do. The neighbor's yard is actually fenced all the way around with 8 foot chain link... but a tree came down in one section way in the back and deer have been leaping over that kink in the fence and into their yard regularly. Since the fence is down, they don't let their retriever run the yard (he's on a running line) so the dog can't keep the deer out unless they fix their fence (which in theory would keep the deer out anyway)

If he came up the side of the house, we could resolve that by finishing the fence. I presumed he came in that way, so when I walked him out of the yard that's the direction I herded him. He got to our side of the temp fence and paused... looking down, judging the distance, looking at me, looking down, looking at me... finally he jumped from the top of the fire pit wall to the path next to the house, and then immediately back up just on the other side of the temp fence. So... even while being chased from the yard, it was reluctant to walk along the side of the house, favoring the hill.

I saw no evidence that he came in that direction. I could find no hoof prints in the gravel, no indication that it walked along the side of the house, nothing showing where it might have gone from the fire pit to the yard. There is also nothing eaten on that half of the yard.

So I walked the yard and found he had eaten stuff on the other side... just a few nips here and there of the tops of some plants under the trees to the left... and of course my rose bush. I stood at my rose bush and looked back towards the plants he ate in the next bed over... and the next thing in my line of site beyond that spot is the corner of the fence, with the 1.5 foot gap.

Over the past few weeks we've found evidence that someone's dog has been in the back yard as well... so I put a call in to Dan (who also thinks venison sounds yummy) and he has added "fix weak point in fence" on his list of things to do this weekend.

So far the deer hasn't gotten to my raspberry stand... so here's hoping.