Deer oh dear!

Friday morning I opened the vertical blinds in our living room and saw two deer in the yard. I went for my camera but they saw me move and strolled among the trees. I was able to photograph this one before he disappeared into the woods.
"How magnificent they are!" I thought. That evening as we left to go to a concert, we saw them in the yard across the road, calming munching foliage. One of them tasted leaves from Harry's dogwood before slipping out of sight.

The next morning I walked Ben down the driveway and there they were again. They stared at Ben and he stared back. Seeing that he was on a leash, they stayed a minute before disappearing down the hill.

I felt fortunate that we lived among these pretty animals. But when Ben and I changed direction and walked up through the yard, my mood turned to dismay. My planters near the pond had been ransacked! The deer had eaten all my geraniums, the pretty parsley, a new plant that I had used to replace one that disappeared, and impatiens. They left a coleus and some fragrant herb that is supposed to repel insects. They also tore leaves and flowers off a rose bush, shown here.

Since then I've sprayed a fresh coat of animal repellent on our other flowers. It has to be applied again after every rain or the hungry critters help themselves.