Wildlife & Gardens, Life Altogether

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Am sad, about the recklessness of greed-mongers and their enablers, on the wind-blown promontory of Cassandra-efforts. Helloooo out there in CNN-land.

Let's visit the wild world and gardens for a bit...

The baby rabbit has been good about just nibbling wild herbs. It's hanging out under the woodpile. I was standing near its entrance a couple days ago as it skittered across the mesa and stopped a foot from my foot. Twitched its nose; went still.

weforanimals.com 

I hummed a little; let my eyes go sleepy; thanked it for eating the wildings, and foregoing sweet peas and tender lettuce.

Meanwhile, I have not been idle, edging garden beds and big pots with wabbit- and deer-repelling nasturtiums, whose flowers are yum and startling in salads.

 images.meredith.com

The deer posed another order of magnitude. During the winter, my neighbor thought it would be fun to attract mule deer in close to the house, in order to astonish and delight his big city nephews.

He set out alfalfa and corn. The deer came. My neighbor enjoyed it so much, he continued feeding them. The deer came to regard the neighborhood as easy pickings. I harrumphed, and went on about my business.

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Until the early morning I met deer in my raised bed, and roared. They leaped out of sight, leaving hoof prints through newly seeded rows.

I went to town for stakes (through the heart!) and fishing line, in order to erect a make-believe fence. An old Mainer had made the suggestion for the white-tailed deer infestation in my old home on the island. 

Humans had exterminated all deer predators, thus protecting toy poodles and kittens, and creating a deer population explosion. Deer filled the forests with Lyme disease ticks and periodically over-browsed and sickened.

Here in the Rockies, predators still exist, though few wolves. But I had to deal with the "trained" deer of the neighborhood.

The fence is simply three tiers of fishing line stretched between the stakes or poles. The deer don't see it; bump against it, and leap back.

A new deer-training: it has been activated, once. I found a post bent inward and fishing line flapping in the breeze but no deer incursion. Would all solutions be so gratifyingly simple.

Here is the news which set my heart grieving. I have been warning about Fukushima as a planetary disaster since the morning after the earthquake and tsunami. Complicit news-mouths assure the world that several "China Syndromes" are yesterday's news:
http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2014/05/its-huge-and-happening-now-a-lot-of-people-are-in-a-lot-of-trouble-video-and-charts-2502072.html

Which set me to remembering the insanity of above-ground nukular testing, whoopee, new toys---and test sirens in schools---little children told to huddle under their desks, safe from the fungal-form cloud.