Deer Disappointed Because We Stopped Feeding Them Ate My Tulips
Even though I know, intellectually, that it was simple hunger, I can't help but feel like it might have been a bit malicious.
Over the winter, my husband and I have been putting out some deer food each night to help sustain a group of five that live in our woods. Each evening, they would come into our yard in Orrington to munch on some berry-flavored oats, as well as a little grass. We didn't feed them a lot. Just enough to give them a little energy to go find more natural food sources.
The reason for it was probably a little selfish. We love deer and have enjoyed seeing them in the yard each evening. I take their pictures and our dog, Toby, watches them through the windows. And looking forward to the nightly visits has helped my husband with his seasonal affective disorder. All in all, it was a mutually beneficial situation.
However, Spring has sprung and we knew that it was time to stop putting out the oats. It's time to figuratively 'push the deer out of the nest' and send them off to find grass and other natural food sources. The past couple of nights, they've appeared in the yard and just stood, gazing at the house, as if to say 'Hey! You forgot us!' I saw them last night, lingering at the edge of our lawn before heading off into the woods.
Today, when I crossed the yard in the rain to look at my crocus blooms and the 3 tulips that survived last Spring's deer visits, I was greeted with the sight of tulip bulbs, pulled out of the ground. All the greenery was gone. Eaten by those sulky deer.
Revenge? Probably not. But all I can think is, well-played, Bambi. Well-played.