Sunday 7 July 2013

A Compromised Perimeter


     I was out trying to do some weeding in the garden yesterday in between the rain showers.  Joan called to me saying that something had eaten the small forming head off of one of our cabbage plants.  I was puzzled as to who it could have been.  It was more than a mouse could do, maybe it was a rabbit.
    This mystery was solved a couple of hours later when I was sitting in the living room, and Joan informed me that there was a deer standing in our garden.  Deer standing in a garden is not a rare occurrence in the Robson Valley, they are everywhere.  However, 10 years ago, I put up a 6 foot (2 metre) fence around my garden, so until now, deer haven’t really been a problem for me.
    I went outside to scare the deer away.  When I walked into the garden it scurried over to the far side.  I tried to herd it out by way of the now open gate, but it panicked and ended up bounding over my high fence.  Its amazing how high they can jump.  I didn’t really think that was how it got into the garden so I started to investigate.
    Our clothes line wheels out over our garden, and when I built the fence, I had to leave a metre wide slot where my fence is only 4 ft (120 cm) tall, beneath the clothes line to allow the clothes to move over the fence.  When I checked that part of the fence, I could see the deer’s deep foot prints in the grass on the garden side of the fence, so I figured that it had discovered the low section and took advantage of it.
    I then spent 30 minutes constructing a barrier out of wood and fencing to block the clothes line slot and make it as high as the rest of the garden fence.  From now on, before we hang the clothes on the line, we will have to remove this barrier.
    If only life would sometimes get simpler, instead of always getting more complicated.

My paintings can be seen at:  www.davidmarchant.ca

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