[Leica] IMG: Friday Flower and a note about deer.

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Our daffodils have just emerged, about two weeks late, and haven't reached
the stage of photographic excellence. So here is a picture of a rhododendron
bloom from a pervious year. It may well be the last rhododendron flower for
some time. The very hard winter and the recent storm ruined most of our
bushes. I had to cut down a dozen tree sized half century old plants with a
chain saw because the weight of the last heavy snow broke the trunks.

http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Rhododendron.jpg.html

Of course the deer didn't help either. The area is overrun with Bambi
clones. While attractive in the abstract, deer eat everything that grows
except for a few untasty plants (andromeda, daffodils, irises). Most home
owners consider them 150 lb. rats. There are now more deer in New York state
than there were when the first settlers appeared. Wolves and black bears
have been largely eliminated. Farmers no longer need to shoot deer to
provide meat for the winter table. It is against the law in the state to
hunt deer most of the year or to even discharge a rifle within 500 feet of a
home, barn, or even outhouse. Some counties entirely ban the use of firearms
to hunt deer. The biggest predator for deer is the automobile.

Deer prefer to live in the edge of a wooded area. They graze on the cleared
land and retreat back to the forest if harm threatens. Homeowners provide
plenty to eat with ornamental plantings. A full grown deer will consume 20
to 25 lb. a day. The deer population is so great that many don't get enough
to eat. Coupled with a hard winter they become weak and emaciated, hence the
thin deer in my recent post. There is apparently no wasting disease in the
Hudson Valley, just plain hunger. The weaker ones become prey for coyotes
which have migrated as far south as New York City. The deer no longer shun
built up areas and apparently have lost their fear of people. We have a
small herd of five does and a buck which sleep in an overgrown wooded area
behind our house, sometimes even in our front lawn. I even have a video of
my wife hitting one across the nose with a folded newspaper to chase it away
from her begonias.

I can think of only two solutions. Import wolves and black bears. There used
to be plenty of those a couple of hundred years ago. The big park across the
river is named Bear Mountain State Park. Or we can eat more venison - much
more.

Larry Z