Wednesday, August 17, 2011

On the Path Today

Today my cleaning ladies were in the house so I made the kids come on a walk with me to the local Nature Center.  Along the way we saw this:


We got within 20 feet of her.  This is so frustrating.  The deer in our area have no natural predators, so they are numerous and fearless.  Despite our beautiful glade, our houses are too close together to allow a hunt.  So during the early spring and fall, deer/car collisions are common, especially in the early morning hours. During the winter, many starve.  During the summer, they're all over our yards dropping deer ticks wherever they go -- an invitation to Lyme disease.

Now some local folks want to spend bunches of money to provide deer birth control.  Sigh.

It seems to me that it's inhumane to allow them to live this way (too many for the land to support) but all of the alternatives are pretty unattractive too.

Theoretically, I know they're pests and I bemoan their presence in such numbers. Yet, I have to admit, when we saw her today, I just marveled at how beautiful she was and how God perfectly designed her for the niche she has found herself in.

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On another note, I've been a bad blogger just because life is very busy here right now.  Getting ready for school, seeing our friends on their way back to Austria, youth group stuff, and my friend's daughter getting married which means I have to go shopping for clothes and I HATE DOING THAT.  Oh yes, the semi-annual childrens' book sale at my library (which I help with), geocaching, pop-up taking care of a friend's child, etc. It's never dull.

So ... what do you think we ought to do about the deer overpopulation?

3 comments:

The Bug said...

I would like to bury my head in the sand thank you. I have to, birth control sounds great, but probably really expensive. That way we lose them through attrition. If there was a way to allow hunting during certain periods that would probably be the BEST answer. Sigh.

Glad you're busy - it all sounds like fun stuff. Except for the clothes shopping. Even when I weight 60 pounds less I hated to shop for clothes. Good luck!

Mary said...

It's hard to think of something that's so beautiful as being a pest. I don't know what the solution is, unless they were to catch them and move them.
CH said he saw a little fawn on the side of the interstate today. The grass had just been mowed, and she was just sitting there. He didn't see her mama on the road, so hopefully she was close by to take care of her.

Sweet Tea said...

Beautiful photo.
You ARE a busy gal, but I love your blog when you have time to post.