The Herd

[kimmer]

We took a drive today and there was a beautiful herd of elk enjoying a meal. Natch I didn't have anything but my pocket camera, but it was fun as I had to stay in the car in order not to spook the herd. Thought you might like to see a couple of shots:

The herd:



Sunlight made for a slightly dramatic photo (and yes, there was a rainbow off to the left, and no, I didn't get a photo).

[krissel]

Their relatives in my backyard....

[attachment=2821:deer_lay..._in_yard.jpg]

[kimmer]

QUOTE(krissel @ Feb 18 2013, 11:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Their relatives in my backyard....

Pretty.

[jcarter]

Oregon is sure beautiful!
We have to be very careful of deer here, as they carry Lyme disease and that stuff is really awful. Dogs die from it and humans can be very very sick.
So we chase the deer away.
Lilly was barking at 2 in the woods across our street, and I have her on Frontline for the deer ticks, and also she is on the Lyme vaccine. That vaccine was in trial for humans in our area, but was discontinued as it was problematic. I was in the study, so my doctor said my immunity was probably 20 years, but my husband had Lyme for a year, mighty sick from it.
Hunting is encouraged in this area.
Jane

[jchuzi]

As I understand it, deer are a dead end for the Lyme parasite. The main vector is mice.

[jcarter]

Not really, mice are part of it, but the ticks that drop off the deer are the vector as well.
There is one more vector, but I cant remember it, will have to ask my husband, but he is outside getting the snow off our glass sunroom.

Ive also been inoculated against Rabies, but still wont mess with bats or anything. Though I did pull a trapped sick bat out of a screen window a few years ago, had on gloves.

[Xairbusdriver]

Whatever the vectors, it can be a horrible and long lasting problem in humans. It was relatively unknown in our area until a few years ago. That made it easily misdiagnosed and cause delays in treatment. That only increases the damage done and the resulting long-term effects.

Part of the problem is what used to be rural areas are now actually inside city limits. That usually means a major decrease in deer predation; fewer fee roaming dogs, fewer coyotes, absolute ban on hunting, more deer/human contact and more deer around human dwellings.

Then there are the auto/deer collisions! It seems the deer education system is also partially to blame; to few deer seem to be able to read the "Deer Crossing" signs! They are becoming 'jaywalkers' and the police seem unable to prosecute them!

[jcarter]

You hit the nail on the head!  This is exactly the problem around here. Though over 50% of people who live on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and here(near Woods Hole), test positive even if they have no symptoms. Im sure my husband who had it for a year, misdiagnosed at first, and then treated by antibiotics for almost a full year, would test positive. I was in the study, so probably have the antibiodies in my blood too.

Our daughter saw a spectacular collision with a big plumbing truck and a deer who ran across the dual highway the other day. The thing went thru the guy's windshield and he luckily didnt overturn the truck, the deer was toast. Venison anybody! A friend hit 2 fawns at once on the back road from our village to Woods Hole.

Another reason we dislike deer, as if you dont have a dog or resident coyotes, they will come into your yard and eat your azaleas, like they did ours once between dogs.
2 were in the woods across the street the other day and Lilly was frantically barking at them(she is behind her electric fence), and I should have gotten my brother's crossbow over here, but I dont think I would dare shoot one. Im only into target shooting and trap shooting, couldnt do an animal, well maybe with the paintball gun.
Jane

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

they will come into your yard and eat your azaleas, like they did ours once between dogs.

I learned from a horticulturist neighbor that one should never plant azaleas between dogs. Not even Dogwoods!

[krissel]

Azaleas?  That's just an appetizer. They eat just about anything around here, even strip rhododendrons and holly!  The only plant I haven't seen them eat is my leucothoe and the pyracantha at my parents' house; they've never touched a leaf of either one.  But everything else under 5' is stripped clean around this time of year.

[jcarter]

Oh my gosh, thats awful!  Your poor flowering trees!  They can strip an apple orchard in 24 hours too.
Here is a solution that we found about after Muffin passed away before we got Lilly. (Our neighbours now have a HUGE Black Lab who doesn't have an electric fence so comes over here a lot.)

Solution #1, buy 'coyote crystals' and shake them around your shrubs, but if you have a big yard and lots of shrubs, its too expensive, and you have to apply it after every rain.
Solution #2, go to the local dog groomer store, and have them save the fur for you and spread it everywhere. I had a grand-dog who I brushed a lot and saved her fur to spread around.
Solution #3, have bowhunter friends, I have 2 friends who came over and 'worked' the 15 acre woods across our street. Culled some deer out.
Solution #4, get a dog and let her/him poo all around your shrubs, and if she does one on a walk, save it into a plastic bag and deposit it right under your azaleas or around the perimeter of your property.  There were 2 deer in the woods across the street the other day and Lilly barked her head off.  I wish I had left the paintball gun downstairs, but I didn't. Deer can sense a gun, even tho its harmless to them. Crows too, if they see me with a stick about 2 feet long, they scatter. They nest in the woods across the street, which I dont mind, but they are noisy. They scream when they spot a coyote, fox, or red-tailed hawk.

Hope this helps.

[Xairbusdriver]

You should have more respect for those crows! They are quite intelligent, you know. There was a story about them recently on the National Geographic channel, I think, about some worried townsfolk in a south Alabama town. They had noticed a rather large collection of dead crows on one busy highway. Alarmed that they were sick crows with some kind of bird virus, they called the State Wildlife Recourses Department and asked for an investigation.

The officials came, examined the dead crows and calmed the people's fears, reassuring them that the crows were not carrying any harmful diseases. The officials explained that Crows are very smart and always post 'lookouts' in the surrounding trees when they find a good feeding area. Unfortunately, while those lookouts were excellent in warning of dangerous animals and even Caws, they had not yet developed enough skill to warn of Trucks...

[jcarter]

People who sleep late hate crows. We get up at dawn or before, so they are not a problem for us.  We were even thinking of having some chickens, but our nice neighbour is a night nurse at our hospital, and that would be very bad for her, you cant see thru the woods to her house, but you really could hear the chickens and rooster. So we wont get chickens, there is a nearby farm where we can go and feed and handle the chickens. We used to take the grandkids there a lot.

West Nile disease wiped out crows and Blue Jays about 7 years ago here.

[Xairbusdriver]

Now Blue Jays ARE LOUD!!! And mean!!!