Monday, June 25, 2007

A Tale of Bambi's Bite


Sing the lyrics below to Meredith Wilson's song, Ya Got Trouble


Well, ya got trouble, my friend

Right here, I say trouble right here in Haymarket

Oh, deer we got trouble

Right here in Haymarket

With a capitol 'T'

And that rhymes with 'D"

And that stands for 'deer'


We surely got trouble

Right here in Haymarket

Gotta figure a way to get the deer out of here


Trouble Trouble Trouble

Buds Buds Buds

Missing Missing Missing


Yes, I must report that Bambi has bit my buds! I must also admit that it took awhile for me to realize something was amiss in the lily bed by the swing. Jack actually noticed the problem first. He said that my lilies were not blooming while Rosemary's down the drive were going great guns. What's your problem, Joann?



What? My lilies are not blooming? I wonder why? So I started watching them everyday for a week to see if a bud was about to burst into a blossom. After a week of watching and hoping I had to admit that I had no lily blossoms. No blossoms. No buds.

No buds! Where did my buds go?


I did an up close examination of the bed and discovered telltale signs of

clipping. Someone or something had neat as you please clipped the buds off the lily stalks. Just about an inch down the stalk from the growing bud.

The stalks were still standing tall and the lily leaves were all still swaying in the summer breeze there.



When I got down on my hands and knees for tracking what did I see but the

outline of Bambi's hoof in my wet mulch. Which means just one thing: the deer that have been calling the golf course home are now smelling ripe vegetation and making bud raids into the backyards of homes further away from our golf course in Piedmont.


This Bambi news is a bitter pill to swallow. I'm now web searching for ways to foil Bambi's midnight raids on my flowerbeds. Oh, and yes, did you notice that I used the plural form of flowerbed? I now have noticed that Bambi made a side trip to the hosta bed by the dining room window. He/she was three feet away from my house. What if Bambi takes a liking to the flowers on my dining room table or breakfast room table? I could end up with Bambi in my house! And I do not plan on inviting Bambi to dine in my home. I might plan on having Bambi for dinner though. If anybody has some ways to foil Bambi please post a comment.


Well, ya got trouble, my friend

Right here, I say trouble right here in Haymarket

With a capital 'T'

And that rhymes with 'D'

And that stands for 'deer'

Ti's a bitter pill to swallow to acknowledge that

BAMBI BIT MY BUDS AND BOMBED MY BLOSSOMS

3 comments:

Jack and Joann said...

I just got an email from a former Franconia teacher who is also trying to battle deer in her yard. She has been advised to do two things: put human hair in the flower beds and to add human urine to the flower beds. Can you see me carrying a hank of hair to my flower bed? Better yet. Can you see me toting
cans of urine around my yard? I think not. My dear friend suggested that I have Jack do his thing after dark in the flowerbeds. I can't wait to see Jack's reaction when I give him this suggestion. I'll keep you posted.

Dragons52 said...

It's actually male urine that needs to be out there...I've dealt with deer before....Delaine has this same problem and got some stuff to put out that stinks so maybe that works...you should call her for stories. Guess I should prepare myself...since if you chase them away they will come my way for sure...if they haven't already. Suspect they have because I haven't noticed many blooms this year???? I'll tell Scott he and Jack can make midnight treks to handle the deer!!
dickie

Magic Poet said...

Well, I'm always glad to do my civic duty ... :-) ... however, I did notice, about three or four days ago, that our hostas (which we have courtesy of the generosity of Joann) were starting to bloom. I didn't even know they bloomed, so I was excited. Forgot to tell Dickie about it. I wonder if the blooms are still there? And, does garlic or that sort of thing keep deer away? I noticed Mr. Bacchus Cat doing his thing in our flower beds, so maybe that keeps the deer away?

Maybe we just need to plant some more tasty things between Delaine's house and the golf course. :-)