Morning in the woods

On this first day of the Daylight Savings Time, I was confused by how dark it still was at 7 a.m.  I looked out the kitchen window for my morning bird feeder check and, in the morning light saw what I thought was something white all ripped up around the feeders.  It soon dawned on me it was the clumps of newly opened daffodils popping with happiness over the spring weather!  On my walk to the mailbox at the end of our drive, I startled a doe no more than 30 feet from me.  We both stopped and stared.  I spoke to her but got only a twitching ear in response.  Her feet didn't move as I continued my walk. As I returned from the mailbox, there she was, rooted to the same spot, eyes still on me. Again, I greeted her and stopped to admire her wonderful, flower-eating self.  I asked her to leave my yet to grow garden alone this year but knew my plea was nothing more than air on the wind to her.  I continued on and even after I went into the house, she remained standing there in peace.  The spring daffodils soon called me back outside to pick a few for the house (deer don't eat these wonderful flowers for some reason).  While rummaging through the blooms to select my pickings, I poked around where I knew other things had grown last year and was happy to see signs of life around two clumps of bee balm.  I will plant more of these inside the soon to be fenced off area because they were one of the few stars of last season.  The artist in me loves looking at the deer.  The gardener I want to be wishes they all would move elsewhere.

Even the deer don't want to get up

It was 14 degrees outside at 7 this morning. The sun was up, I was up, the deer were not. Curled on the ground in underbrush about 30 feet from the kitchen window were four deer, heads up, ears twitching. Nearby, a few hungry juncos hopped around under the bird feeders. Lucky for them, birds using the feeder are sloppy and routinely throw seeds to the ground. Juncos seem to be ground junkies.

Slowly, one doe gets up and spends an amazing amount of time standing on three legs while slowly chewing on something inside the raised leg.  I have an inane thought--is it possible for a deer to nurse on itself? Can I find the answer to that question on Google? Finally, she drops her fourth leg and meanders around munching on something on the forest floor. The recling deer stare away from all this activity, chewing their cuds. Irritated at the inactivity, the doe goes over to the smallest recliner and taps it on the back with a foreleg. Interesting. I'd never seen this before. The small deer, probably her fawn, wobbles up, stretches, takes a few steps, and, like all teenagers, goes back to bed. A few minutes pass before mom gives up and returns to bed herself.

Twenty minutes later, after some serious procrastination on my part, I leave the house to go swimming.  The deer have all stood up and begun their trek through the forest toward doing whatever it is deer do all day. They were wearing their winter coats of taupe, matching the cold bark of the trees, making them disappear more easily into the scene. The lead doe stops to watch my car go by, totally adjusted to the presence of human life in her turf.

Before discovering this group outside the kitchen, I'd had the good fortune to watch two other deer very clearly through my office window as they strolled the driveway eating acorns from the gravel. Not often I get a view good enough for videotaping. Shot through the window screen, it is a bit fuzzy.

Finally writing from Blacksburg

March 8 was our first day in our new home. I have thought many times that I should post something because there were certainly things to write about. We are now in our seventh month in the forest. We survived the huge effort of moving in, picking up cars, unpacking (most) things, getting rid of many things and being reminded of how many bugs there are in an American forest--at least in this one! I lived on the edge of a huge forest in Germany and could walk for hours in it without being bothered by bugs. Here, I think mosquitoes would fly through three states for the joy of attacking even two inches of my exposed flesh. Go outside to work in the garden, walk to the mailbox, walk in the neighborhood--swarms of gnats gather around our heads, get in our eyes.

As lovely as the location and house are, the bugs have frustrated us so much we thought we couldn't live here. Trust me, 18 itching mosquito bites from knees to feet will keep you from sleeping! It is now September and the critter concentration seems a bit lower. By now I have a huge selection of bug bite prevention and/or treatment. Off, Cutter, Skin so Soft, organic all-natural for the preventing (none of them 100%). Afterbite (smells strongly of ammonia), anti-itch creams and Zyrtex antihistamine for the dealing with. The creams seem the best. The Zyrtex wired me to the point nothing would make me sleep that night. Not a good thing considering I had a 40-minute drive the next morning to an art class. A neighbor suggested I wear a big straw hat because the gnats won't go under the brim. Mostly true, I found. I'm not a pretty sight--tall socks, long pants, long sleeves, gloves, layers of spray and giant hat--sometimes with a dryer sheet tucked into the band for extra measure, another bit of advice. Add to that misery, unusually high heat and humidity and the cool fresh air of Germany beckons to us daily. Sigh.

Hmm, I forgot to mention the "nasty quadrupeds" otherwise known as deer. While bugs are eating me, deer are eating my plants. Is there no end to all this munching?

There are many good things to write about but I thought I'd get the gripes out of the way first. Happy things in the next post.

Photos with this post: Four-inch lunar moth on the wall of our garage. Caterpillar (soon to be black swallowtail butterfly) on a parsley plant on my deck. Critters that bring me joy, not bites!