Hungry Deer

With all the snow on the ground, we can see what plants the deer have been visiting. I already knew that they liked an unidentified shrub in front of the house, a yew in back, and that they had sampled my saffron crocuses (which had never bloomed anyway, so no loss there.) But there were some other surprises, too.

The evergreen azalea was thoroughly nibbled on the sheltered side. Last year the deer didn’t touch it.



The deciduous azalea had been so thoroughly eaten last year that I was surprised when it recovered over the summer. So I’m not surprised that it was munched again. What surprises me is that the deer didn’t wait for it to put out leaves in the Spring.



This was the real surprise. The deer ate my holly bushes! Spines and all! I thought that evergreen holly was deer-proof. After all, holly is one of the few plants at my parents’ house that don’t get eaten by deer. Are we having a tough winter for deer here in New England?



I suppose if the deer are overpopulated this winter, it will be a good year for the coyotes.

It looks as if the deer also rang our doorbell while we were away.