Lawn Statues

Some people buy plastic deer statues to put in their gardens.  I have the real thing.

About six months ago, I set up the BirdCam as a "trail cam" in the west side yard.  My goal was to try and catch the deer passing by on their way to the beach.  The trail that ran down this side of the yard when I bought the property turned out to be a deer trail.  Despite building and landscaping, they continue to follow the same path after 28 years.

Until now, the BirdCam caught several shots of me walking around the yard, but no usable photos of the deer.  I did catch some night shots but they were just vague outlines with glowing eyes.

Finally, patience paid off.  The BirdCam captured two decent photos yesterday morning.  This is the one I liked the best.  I wish I knew what had caught her attention.  She appears very interested in something over to the left.

These are Columbian Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) a subspecies of Mule Deer.  I have had to learn to garden with these guys around so much.  Over the years I have found plants to avoid by trial and error.  They are particularly fond of Dogwood and Ninebark.  They also like the Nootka Rose along the path to the beach, but that helps keep it under control.  The key to getting along with the deer is to not get overly upset when you discover something has been chewed up.  Consider it finding one more thing not to plant.

I have also learned how to avoid deer-plus-vehicle collisions when driving.  A series of quick, short honks with the horn always sends them scurrying out of the path of my truck.

Plastic lawn statues are OK, but I think I prefer the real critters in my yard.