Who’s been nibbling all the leaves off the partridge berry bush? Have the snowshoe hares been at it again? I’m sure its evergreen leaves are tempting, especially in early spring, after yet another snowfall has covered the ground.
And who ate all those leaves off the euonymus branches right next to the house? Despite a long, harsh winter, this plant was still lush green and thriving until… this morning.
As if the tracks weren’t enough of a tell-tale sign…
Further evidence was waiting to be discovered along the trail in the backyard…
Oh deer! (Maybe they’ll be back!!)
Update April 15th, 2014
Early this morning around 1:30 am, I was able to see half a dozen white-tailed deer moving slowly around the open area in the front yard. They looked so calm. Two were much smaller than the rest. Three approached the house and began ‘pruning’ what’s left of the evergreen leaves on the euonymus. They were just a foot away from my vantage point on the other side of the living-room window.
Guessing they’d soon be moving to the backyard, I slowly opened the back door. The last one to leave flashed his white tail as he entered the path into the deeper woods. Suddenly he stopped and turned back. As I stood there at the half-open back door, I watched him walk around the deck for a few minutes and then just quietly go into the deeper woods by an alternate path. It seemed like a dream. I’ve waited all these years to finally see one deer in my yard, and then I see half a dozen all at once!
Text and photographs copyright Amy-Lynn Bell 2014
Love it! Hello and welcome, Deer! Lovely to see you in the blogosphere, Amy.
So nice to see you too deer one 🙂
The snowfall this year has been ridiculous. No wonder the wildlife is famished.
It has been a long hard winter for the animals too, they must be longing for spring to arrive. Hope the deer return so that you get to see them and take a photo.
Jill, I hope they return too. Although I’ve seen their tracks in my yard, I’ve yet seen them in almost a quarter century of living here.
I hope the euonymus survives the pruning.Goodluck withthe deer, dear.
I hope it does too Sybil. It’s a well established shrub so it should be ok. Unfortunately, I don’t think the partridge berry bush will recover this time. I’ll have to find some more to transplant.