A new deer family, June 11, 2010

This was a scene I managed to capture a few days ago on our acreage at Cobble House Bed & Breakfast in the Cowichan Valley.  Fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, deer are a regular sight around our  house. 

The fortunate part is that we very much do enjoy seeing the wildlife around our place.  It’s still a pretty special feeling seeing wildlife on your own property.  We come from the Netherlands originally and it’s pretty mind boggling that this kind of space and wilderness directly around your home is possible.  Since I took this photo a few days ago, I’ve seen another mother with one fawn and the fawns have been playing and running around on the back lawn several times, in between nursing with their  moms.  It’s hard to resist baby animals!

The unfortunate part is that the deer can decimate your garden.  We used to have a couple of beloved dogs who definitely helped keep the deer at a distance.  Since they’ve been gone, the deer are coming closer to the house, even up the front steps or on the deck in the back!  We can’t be watching for them all the time with a busy B&B to run among other things, so we’ve been forced to protect our deck with portable fences that we can roll in and out, and put chicken wire around some of the summer plants in front. 

The rest of the garden suffers from deer browsing, so shrubs tend to be bare on the bottom up to a certain level.  I enjoyed some lovely irises for a few days until one of the deer found them!  At least I enjoyed them for a few days, which is better than the daylilies we never see once the bud has formed!  Last year I talked to a neighbour down the road and she said she hardly ever sees deer around her property.  I guess they must all be at Cobble House!

Come by and check us out again soon.  We’re still tweeking the format and the bells & whistles on this blog, but we hope to show you around the area and the B&B in the future.