Man Versus Nature

I have been noticing the deer a whole lot more around the house this fall. Normally they stay out of the yard. The entire back yard is fenced. I think the deer used to stay out just because the fence marked our property. It is not like they can't jump over the fence. The back fence is only four feet high. A deer jumping over that fence is like me stepping over the curb.

Maybe the deer are getting hungry. We have a bunch of nuts that fall from the trees onto the back yard lawn. I frequently see the deer on our property just behind our fence. We only have the inner part of our land fenced.

The weirdest thing happened this week. I went outside. A deer was behind the fence. Normally they run away when they see or hear me. This one just stood there. At first it was hard to see because it blended in with the environment. But I did see it. It remained still. I stared at it for a minute or two.

Eventually the deer started stomping its front feet on the ground. It was as if it wanted to charge. Now the deer was slender. But I bet it was strong too. Bare handed I would not want to take on a charging deer. What? Do I need to carry around a stick or other weapon to defend myself?

Eventually I coughed, and the deer must have taken that for a sign of aggression or something. The deer grunted but decided to run away. Very strange indeed. I think it is time to save up some money and fence in the whole back yard. Got to up the fence height too. Maybe six feet or even eight.

Given a running start, and enough determination, a deer could probably jump over high fences as well. Especially since half the back property slopes down into our house. Great. They can jump in but they can't jump out. I only hope that a higher fence will further signal that we don't want any animals in the back yard.

Or perhaps it is time to invest in some deer-be-gone spray.