"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message from "limey" :

Well, I think I've lost heart for gardening, after trying at this house.

Squirrels and birds stripped the peach and apple trees. Squirrels also
attacked the tomatoes.

The deer this year are really bad. First, in the spring they ate my
lilies.
Then, during the season they stripped the tomato vines and/or ate the
tomatoes. They then went to work on the cucumbers. After that, they
ate
the rhubarb leaves (I hope they got belly aches), but left the decimated
stalks.

At lunchtime today, I watched a doe and her fawn eat the hydrangea
vegetation, then the peony leaves, then they started on the azaleas in
the
back yard. I tried to shoo them off but they must have moved at least
12
inches then stared at me. Next, I suppose, they will be destroying the
foundation plants. Give me a break.

I feel your pain, Dora. It's outrageous that gangs of criminal
species roam around our planet vandalising it, as if they were homo
sapiens. My advice is to move to a penthouse apartment in the city. No
more deer jumping on the balcony, and any passing birds will feel dizzy
from traffic fumes, fall into the road and get crushed by traffic.

Janet

I know, I know - we're encroaching on their habitat more and more.
However, deer aren't controlled in this area to any great extent, are
multiplying fast and are proving a real hazard on the roads. We're lucky,
I suppose - at least they're not hungry bears in the yard. I'm just hungry
for my own vegetables, though, and fences aren't allowed here.

Dora