Tossed salads and scrambled deer
It hit 107F on the deck today. We all but melted in the balmy 79 that was the indoor temperature. It was so hot today the mama deer came begging for water.
She showed up this morning as I was out in the yard. 10 feet away from me, with eyes that were demanding apples. In a docile yet wild and skittish kind of way. Like she knew I was good for them, and if she just stood firm and didn't run away, she'd get the prize.
Naturally I didn't disappoint. She followed me to the deck, staying back a closer-than-I-was-comfortable-with 10 feet the entire time, as I went up the hill into the house to get the rest of the apples we had saved for her. I was a little wary; Bobbin was on the deck and I was hoping that Mama Deer hadn't gotten too brave or too hungry since I had last seen her. She wasn't so bold as to make her way onto the deck, but she stood right next to the house at the bottom corner, waiting patiently as Bobbin looked down on her from the deck railing about 8 feet directly above her head pointing and yelling "Hi Mama Deer! Hiiiii-eeeeeee! How are you dis mornin' deer? Are you hungry? YAH?! Hiiiii-eeeeeee! GOOD MORNIN!" I figured if she stayed through the enthusiastic greeting and interrogation she deserved the apples.
I tossed out about a half dozen. She ate them all and didn't stop looking at me or start walking away until I had held out my hands, empty, shaking my head saying "all gone". Like she understood any of that; she knows I'm quick with the apples. If they weren't forthcoming within 3 minutes of silent, doe-eyed pleading then obviously she wasn't going to get anymore from me and she decided on her own to move on. Likely to wait out the day in the relative cool of the forest by the house. A seasonal stream runs through it but with this heat wave, I don't think there's much if anything flowing.
Later this evening she returned. She was breathing really heavy - I could see her ribs and stomach heaving rapidly. And she had her mouth open and tongue out. She was hot and thirsty and looking for more apples.
Problem was I had given her everything this morning. So I ransacked the fridge to see what we might have that would appeal to a deer. Not a whole lot. Some bags of peeled organic baby carrots and lettuce left over from our BBQ friday night. I tossed out the carrots over the balcony railing. She sniffed and turned up her nose and looked me in the eye to let me know this was not what she wanted. I tossed out the lettuce and she seemed quite interested until she got up close and had her mouth open about to it it, and then backed away wildly. I looked in the bag. There was a half onion in there with the lettuce. Otherwise I think she'd have eaten it. I tried some watermelon chunks with the rind still on. She sniffed the air, interested, but couldn't locate anything on the ground worthy of consuming. I had nothing else to try.
She looked so sad and desperate and uncomfortable that I made Tim go outside to give her a drink. She started getting a little skittish and jumped away as he hauled out an old cooler that we had just washed and had left outside, and filled it with water from the hose until it was overflowing. She seemed tempted when it had filled but in the end she just decided to walk away. Maybe she smelled onions in the cooler.
Tim spent the better part of today mowing and cleaning the yard. It looked immaculate. He suffered some minor heat fatigue too as a result of being outside all day in the scalding sun. Now, however, the yard looks like a giant tossed salad; watermelon chunks, lettuce leaves, and orange baby carrots littering the otherwise beautifully manicured lawn.
Shopping list for tomorrow includes a 25lb bag of apples. And I need to become more familiar with deer diet. I do know now that they won't eat anything that remotely smells of onions.
Comments
Try this -
Posted by Tim on June 30, 2008 7:59 PM.http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/deer.htm
I'm jealous. I want a deer! WAHHHHH!
Posted by Pamela on July 1, 2008 11:02 AM.