Oh Deer!

Living on a hillside has its advantages when it comes to viewing wildlife.  In the winter we can see deer in plain sight right on the mountain.  Their tracks fill the backyard and this deer in the video showed up in our backyard in the middle of the day. This year we spotted an elk herd roaming around up there as well. It was really neat.
Of course there are disadvantages to sharing the neighborhood with deer. One of them is the fact that there are dozens of them killed on the highway each year.  Since we travel the highway everyday we are constantly dodging them. We've had several close calls this year alone.
The other disadvantage is that they like to eat my plants, especially my tulips.  Luckily,  my tulips are late bloomers and the only thing they munch on are the leaves. By the time the flowers come out they are living in the hills and don't come back to munch. My pansies are another story. If I plant them in the spring then the deer munch on them and pull them all out of the ground.  If I plant them in the fall then the roots have anchored them down and by the spring they are fine. For some reason I haven't caught on yet and I keep planting them in the spring.   Anyway...yesterday we planted pansies and hopefully I won't be posting a picture of them all popped out and dead. Aaron bought me some deer spray so we'll see if it works or not.

Here's Emma and Christian helping plant.  The kids were really excited about me letting them pick out their own flowers and even had fun planting them, but Emma had the most energy.  She stayed with me until the whole flat was done.