Parking Lot Humor

Encountered in Algoma, WI the other day.  

The owner of this car obviously has a sense of humor...

The Garden Chronicles

Up early this morning to beat the heat and tidy-up the garden. 

Three days ago I picked cukes and made a giant batch of cucumber salad for Lions Club. Today there was this.  I swear they materialize overnight. 

 

I suspect I’ll be canning tomatoes soon and the broccoli is the gift that keeps on giving. 

 

Anecdotally there seems to be more than the usual number of aggrieved individuals on social media.  It must suck big time to rise every damn day and be burdened by grievances that you have to crow them on Face Book for all the interweb to suffer-thru. My sole grievance worth any valuable bandwidth is the resident whitetails have eaten all my delicious lettuce. 

 

All four rows!  Same for the green beans.

Nevertheless, there is justice for this affront to my delicate sensibilities.

Nocturnal garden theft is a capital offense.

 

Vive le jardin magnifique!

 

 

 

The Garden Chronicles

We revisited the scene of the crime today and found further evidence of overnight deer browsing of the pea patch.

More footprints in the dirt and fresh-picked and uneaten vine ends on the driveway.

This is new to me and very bad news for the July harvest. 

Grrrrr......

The Garden Chronicles

This is my pea patch.  A collapsible fence upon-which the English peas can climb and thrive.  

I was observing it this morning and was struck that the pea vines on the left end of the fence were shorter than the normally-sized pea vines on the right end of the fence.   What the heck.

Upon further examination I found forensic evidence of some critter having chomped-off the tender tasty tips of the growing vines.  Almost half of my pea patch!

Some detective work revealed that the perpetrator of the crime left their footprints in the soft damp soil of the garden.....

The penalty for this happens to be death.

Not just yet.  Sentencing will occur with the commencement of deer season in the fall.

In further news, the replanted Kakai pumpkins have successfully germinated after the squirrels or birds ate the first ones.  They're protected now by a crown of chicken wire until they become established.

Broccoli is doing great.  You can see from the photo that the lettuce harvest has been one of the best ever. Potatoes have been mounded a third times.  Cukes are up and thinned twice.  Third sowing the Blue Lake beans is up.  And the tomatoes have been pruned (again) and supports installed. 

Vive le Jardin Magnifique!

Edit to ad:  After feeding the girls on the porch tonight I caught the black Lab munching on lettuce in the garden.. Opportunist the Old Girl is......

Report From Deer Country

Ahem (clearing throat).

It is time to submit the annual winter update on the health and happiness of the local whitetail population.

click on the images for a closer look

Most every evening at dusk brings the materialization of anywhere from eight to a couple dozen deer only a few hundred yards north of the house browsing down at the big pond adjacent to Silver Creek.  Ordinarily we don’t see deer gathering in numbers like this.  However, this is farm country and when the crops are off the fields the deer become concentrated in the natural cover for the duration of winter and until green-up in the spring - at which point they begin to disperse.  The annual fawn drop follows shortly thereafter.

You might conclude that a couple of dozen whitetails might make for a tempting target.  Sure, we have the local coyotes but they’re not much match for an adult deer.  We have few if any ‘apex predators’ around here.  While not unheard-of, wolves and black bear are infrequent to rare on the peninsula - and certainly not in sufficient numbers to be regularly problematic.  You don’t hear about a wolf pack taking-out someone’s herd of alpacas or dairy calves.  As a consequence we have a larger than normal deer population.

I share the opinion of people that know more about this than I do that deer numbers remain too high around here.  Don’t take my word for it – you need look no further than the browse lines on the trees for evidence.  Regeneration of new trees in the forest understory suffers too.  Regrowth of cedar is nonexistent.  Such is the result of shoving-aside simple science and biology and allowing politicians with an axe to grind to make one-size, fits-all, deer management decisions.  Bar stool biologists they are.  Sigh.

On the other hand deer hunting is rather spectacular and everyone has a good time, our freezers are filled and the food pantry network benefits on a grand scale.  From my stool I would say to harvest more does and let the little bucks walk – but that’s just one man’s opinion.  I digress.

Back to the state of the local deer herd and their health and happiness.  I am pleased to report that through February - and by all outward appearances - the local whitetails are looking both fat and sassy.

For you city dwellers concerned about your people-habituated deer this winter I would advance the notion that they are likely doing equally well and in many cases better than their wild brethren.  If you live in an urban setting or within the urban-rural interface there is far more deer-friendly edge habitat and an abundance of yummy landscaping for their dining pleasure.  Better yet – many homeowners will grumble in the spring about the deer browsing their hydrangeas and will promptly plant replacements in the buffet line.

In closing I would point out that the days continue to grow longer and the sun is setting further to the west.  Spring turkey hunting is on-deck.

Parade of Tree Munchers

Recently we went out with friends for dinner and stopped on County XC (between County D and School Roads) to count the deer in a picked field to the west.  If memory serves we stopped counting at 36.   

Don’t let anybody tell you that there is a deer shortage in these parts.  

These 15 second trail camera video vignettes were taken 50 minutes-apart the morning of January 31.  If you watch them carefully you will count seven deer in the first video and six in the second.

It's a parade of tree munchers......

A Dozen of Trouble

From time-to-time I can be more than a little snarky about all the deer around here.  For sure there are too many deer and excepting for an occasional nocturnal raid on the garden or the shrubbery they stay out of the yard for the most part.  They're skittish.  Becoming too habituated to people is not a very good idea for wildlife.

My pal - The First Mate - shared with me a photo he took while visiting family in Colorado this summer.

click on the image and count them yourself

Looks like they have a bigger problem.  I counted twelve in this photo.  In the yard.  In broad daylight!  And elk are larger than whitetail deer.

The Reach

Caught red-handed!

Evidence of how much effort a whitetail will put into making a grab for a mouthful of their favorite browse.  Like the luscious oak leaves in the picture.

Normally the deer are content to feed to the height of all four of their feet remaining on terra firma. Which means that my forest is picked rather clean up to the height of my shoulders.

This must have been evidence of a particularly tasty morsel.

Deer Population Issues

Consider this post to be evidence of both a blessing and a curse.

If you are a deer hunter this might just be a blessing. 

click on images to enlarge

 

Yup, a doe with five fawns in tail.  For sure this deer did not give birth to quintuplets - and I figure the other moms are close.  We are witnessing an explosion of deer numbers - fawns in particular - as a consequence of excellent forage, good cover and moderate winters.  If you are a deer hunter and the goal is to see a lot of deer this is a blessing.

This trail camera photo was taken at the same location close to the same date - August 23rd.  

The curse is that this is one of the latest-bred fawns I've seen in awhile - clearly after the first of the year.  Mom may very likely be a member of the 2017 fawn cohort.  Like I said - excellent forage, good cover and moderate winters. 

My point is too many deer stress the carrying capacity of the local habitat and the survivability of that fawn has an exceedingly low probability of success.  All of this is a consequence of Governor Walker's One Size - Fits All deer management policy.  Namely manage the resource for high numbers.  It doesn't matter much at all the crop damage that farmers suffer, or lack of natural regeneration in the forest understory, or that early spring brings privation, hunger and death by starvation to yearling deer.  What takes priority is that every hunter should see a deer behind every tree.  Yeah, I know that is a snarky exaggeration but I think you get my drift. 

Perhaps someday the management of big game species like whitetail deer will be taken from the legislature and returned to scientists and biologists.

Not holding my breath....

Midnight Raiders

This morning I rose, fetched a cuppa steaming joe and surveyed my garden to ascertain what needed to be picked and processed in the next day or so. 

This scene greeted me.  More than half of my beets plucked from the ground with the tops chewed-off and deer tracks all over the garden in the damp dirt.   Grrrrr. 

This is quite brazen and ranks right up there with other capital offenses.  The penalty for garden-raiding is death.

Worse yet were all of the little deer tracks mixed among the adult deer tracks.

This act was committed by an obvious crime family.

I suppose I'll be pickling beets this weekend...

Nocturnal Visitor

The cedars in the yard are showing sign of having been browsed.  This, following a thorough spraying with deer repellant. 

And fresh tracks in the fresh snow on the driveway....

The Garden Chronicles - Final Harvest

The last of the garden crops included a short row of Bibb lettuce and the remainder of the carrots.  The deer ate the lettuce and I wanted to leave the carrots in as long as possible to sweeten-up a bit.  

Leaving your carrots in the earth until after the first frosts of autumn does allow the sugars to translocate to the root.  As a matter-of-fact avid gardeners will mulch their carrots with a thick layer of straw and dig them-up on as as-needed basis throughout the winter months.  I attempted that once.  It didn't work.  The carrots froze solid.  I am a dedicated gardener but not that avid. In any event the more brazen of whitetails have been paying a nocturnal visit and have begun to nibble on the leafy green carrot tops.  I also know from experience that they'll figure out how to extricate as much of the really tasty root before too long.   

I week ago I attempted to get a fork in the earth to uproot the carrots but the cold snap would have nothing to do with it.  The ground was frozen.

With the recent moderate temperatures and today's spring-like temperature of 62 degrees the pitch fork effortlessly uprooted my carrots without snapping-off a single one.  Easy peasy.


And they're as sweet as can be.  The dogs certainly approve as they dined on some of them too. 

It's official.  End of November.  Final harvest.

The Garden Chronicles

 click on image to enlarge

The onions have been curing for about a month on a tarp in the machine shed.  Today I knocked the dirt off along with a layer of onion skin, snipped-off the shriveled tops and put them into cold storage in the garage adult beverage fridge.  They'll keep for more than a year under these circumstances.

The 2017 crop was much diminished as a consequence of rot.  I chalk it up to the cold and very wet conditions in the months leading up to harvest.

In other news I still have some Bibb lettuce that is holding-up nicely to the colder conditions.  The carrots are still in the ground as they'll sweeten-up a bit as the days grow shorter and colder.  However someone has been visiting after dark and browsing the carrot tops.

Yup, you guessed it.  

Gonna fix that problem before too long. 

Politicizing Deer Management

Like most sportsmen, I’m tired of sitting in a deer stand all day and not seeing any deer, said Walker.  As governor, I will name a ‘Whitetail Deer Trustee’ to monitor the health and population of the deer herd. That way, we take the politics out of the forest and put the deer back in.

Candidate Walker intoned those memorable words more than six and a half years ago and today the legislature is in charge of deer management.  Manage deer by means of sound, scientific principles?  Nope.  Manage deer with the guidance of wildlife biologists?  I don't think so - better to eliminate those positions from the Department of Natural Resources.  How about a deer management plan that involves consulting foresters?  Are you kidding? All that science makes their heads hurt.  

So much for taking the politics out of the woods.  A larger pile of steaming and stinking BS hasn't been spoken since.

Today Wisconsin has a one-size fits-all legislated deer season framework that has resulted in a dearth of deer in the northern third of the state and a surplus of deer in other parts of the state.  Door County's CDAC suggested an antlerless season might be a solution to stemming the burgeoning deer herd - but that got shot-down.  Wait...what about an earn-a-buck framework?  Maybe once every three or four years or so to bring the herd closer to goal and grow some big bucks?  Alas, the governor and legislature tell you no way.   

As a consequence there are no tools left in the deer management tool box anymore.

As for me the deer are eating me out of house and home.

All of this browse damage is enough to give me a big, damn headache and leave me pissed-off.  The good news is that my friends like deer hunting and aren't afraid to stack them up.

Sigh...

Shooting Baldies on the Agenda

There has been nothing but trouble since the Walker Administration decided to turn deer management over to the legislature.  No longer are scientists asked what to do.  Science makes legislator's heads hurt.  Forestry experts who make deer management recommendations make the governor's head hurt.  Farmers and orchard owners who warn about the losses they suffer from too many deer are ignored it hurts so much.  

As a consequence Door County’s CDAC (County Deer Advisory Council) recently voted unanimously for an antlerless-only deer hunt this coming fall in an effort to cull the deer herd.  With an estimated 67 deer per square mile of habitat, and a goal of 25 deer per square mile the CDAC is at its wits end as to how to reduce the county's deer population.   

In 2016 hunters received three free antlerless permits for each deer license.  That means if you hunt with a bow and a gun you got six free tags.  26,000 permits were issued last year resulting in only about 2,400 deer killed.   

The habitat is getting clobbered by all the deer and becoming more degraded all the time.  The CDAC will make its final decision tomorrow night.  7 PM at Sturgeon Bay High School.  Learn more about what’s happening here…

Deer

The camera situated in the north west woods is seeing steady action.  Almost all deer with some turkeys thrown-in for good measure.  Hopefully something else will show-up before too long.  But as long as we're on the topic of deer...

click on image to count the animals

how many deer in the photo above?

If you see three there might be a fourth.  There sure are a lot of deer on the landscape and like this one they're looking quite healthy.

Sheesh...


 

The Green Green Grass of Home

Travel and other obligations (if you consider that travel might very well be an obligation) have kept us away from The Platz for a spell and we returned yesterday to see if everything was still standing and to chase the chill out of the bones of the house.

This is what greeted us upon our arrival:

 click on image to enlarge

Yup.  More deer damage,  Not only have the deer resumed munching upon my cedars (after being sprayed with deer repellent) they have also been pawing and scraping the snow from the yard so as to graze and munch upon the turf beneath.

It's not like our yard is any tastier than the next.  It hardly ever gets fertilized and has an abundance of dandelions along with some other weeds.  Nevertheless it is green underneath the blanket of shallow snow especially on the POWTS (Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment System) where the grass is especially lush and green.

Mound system for you city dwellers. 

I initially suspected a wild turkey flock committed this landscape scratching but all I found were whitetail deer tracks.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled as I have deer at the top of my most wanted group of suspects. 

I figure that after slaying twenty-two of their number over the last couple of deer seasons the word has gone out to the local herd that they should take vengeance by means of munching on our landscaping when we're not looking and then pooping in the yard.

What nerve.  Sheesh...

Feeling Perplexed

Hey deer camp people!

Post-hunt deer report.

In 2016 we killed nine deer.

In 2015 we killed thirteen deer.

That is twenty-two whitetails over the space of two hunting seasons.

Driving down Swamp Court at dusk we counted twelve deer in the alfalfa field and another in the ditch along County D. Those were the ones we saw. Tracks in the yard and my white cedar landscaping is getting clobbered.  A testament to the efficacy of deer repellent.

Grrrrrrrr....

Putresence

pu·trid

ˈpyo͞otrəd/

adjective

adjective: putrid

1. (of organic matter) decaying or rotting and emitting a fetid smell.

   synonyms:

   decomposing, decaying, rotting, rotten, bad, off, putrefied, putrescent, rancid, moldy; More foul, fetid, rank "putrid meat"

   • of or characteristic of rotting matter.

     
     

     "the putrid smells from the slaughterhouses"
   • informal

     very unpleasant; repulsive.

     
     

     "the cocktail is a putrid pink color"

Now that the crops are off the fields and the barrenness of winter has fallen across the landscape the whitetail deer have resumed their nocturnal visitation to the yard to dine upon my white cedars.  And it didn't take very long.  Last year's browsing damage had largely - but not completely - been repaired as the trees regenerated their scaly leaves..But already the results of deer browse have been manifesting on the landscaping.

We've counted the confirmed deaths of twenty-two deer in the past two years off of our little 80 acres of heaven and by all outward appearances we haven't made much of a dent on the herd of tree munchers.  So I mixed a couple of gallons of deer repellent and sprayed my shrubs with Deer Stopper.  We'll see how it works.  A word of advice however - don't do this on a breezy day as an errant wind gust might cause some blow back from your backpack sprayer and anoint you and your clothing with the stuff.

And you will smell of Putrescent Whole Egg Solids.  Blech... 
                     

click on images to enlarge