I guess I tempted fate yesterday by mentioning the deer coming into the orchard garden. Checked in there for slugs this morning (Wednesday) and what did I see but this ----> deer footprints
And then of course this ----> eaten off raspberry stems
I took these pictures around supper time tonight. The rain is still coming down and you can see how wet it is. The ground between the rows desperately needs rototilling again, but it is would be like trying to 'till a swamp.
I went out there this morning and picked another 20 or so slugs off the dahlias (the row up the center of the picture), and the peas and beans on the right. There were none there at supper time. I can always hope they've drowned.
It was a quagmire between the rows.
Luna snuffled for rabbit poop in the grass, or maybe it was deer poop.
Even that plastic owl that is supposed to be protecting the current bushes looked sad
But Luna is always ready to go in the chicken field, rain or not.
A thing of beauty on a dreary day.
Tonight we went back out to shut the chickens in, etc. I took a flashlight and picked a few slugs off near the dahlias and the peas and beans. I went and cut some lettuce leaves and sprinkled them around, hoping that any slugs would go for them and leave the dahlia's etc. alone. Then I sprinkled some bloodmeal around the raspberries and on the leaves. I read somewhere that it discourages the deer. I felt a bit weird out there in the dark, sort of felt like a sorceress or something, tossing my magic dust around and muttering incantations. I'll bet the dogs will be in there trying to lick up the bloodmeal though, given half a chance.
The best part was that the rain had stopped, the sky was mostly clear, and I'm really hoping to wake up to some sunshine in the morning.
How are you going to get rid of those deer (if at all)?
ReplyDeleteSuckie was a pet lamb and was bottle fed when she was little - you can find out more here: http://ghfsheepdogs.blogspot.com/p/about-our-sheep.html