My side yard borders 27 acres of publicly owned "green acres" land, which is preserved and wooded. Deer are common trhoughout suburban New Jersey now. On one particular day several years ago we counted 31 on our one acre lot, one herd travelling through the back yard while another was attacking the roses and azaleas in the front yard. We bought wooden tulips in Holland several years ago, to place in our front garden for the benefit of the neighbors. Tulips are by far the favorite food of our deer, so the sight would be quite puzzling to passers-by. The deer bit off all eight of the wooden tulips, breaking the1/4 inch dowel that held the artificial bulbs. Of course, they spit out the wooden flowers, but they didn't stop after the first six or seven. They also knock over or pull down any bird feeders they can reach. We also have wild turkeys in our yard regularly, and occasionally bald eagles fly overhead from a nearby state park with a lake.
This is a much different situation fron forty or fifty years ago, when deer were scarce in Central New Jersey. In my days as a boy scout, we would have to look hard to find deer tracks in the woods, let alone live deer. They have become a real problem here lately. They cause many automobile accidents, and spread Lime disease, which is transmitted to humans by deer ticks. I have to clean their droppings from my lawn before I can cut the grass. The fawns are incredibly cute, however.
Here is a snap shot I made last fall out of the widow on my car as I drove past a neighbor's front yard:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2385970
Of course, New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US. My wife and I laugh when we travel to places like Yellowstone, Denali and Yosemite and see tourists lined up along the road to watch a deer or two. Now bear and wolves, that's another story.
Rob Studdert wrote:
Amazing, how close are you located to wooded areas?
