Chores and Deer

My work day doesn't usually end until 6 or after. Often, I have errands to run after work, like tonight, so I didn't get home until about 6:45. And then there are chores--you know, watering pots, trees, shrubs, etc., filling bird feeders and baths, feeding Momma Kitty--and there is now barely enough light to get it all done. I was just finishing up tonight when I spotted the first deer of the evening and the alarm sounded (Lucy's barking). She had spotted the rest...7 deer who, when the commotion started, split--3 going one direction and 4 going the other. I have a pear tree about 75 yards from my house and, right now, the deer are drawn to it like bees to honey (the same pear tree in which a porcupine was napping week before last). Then I spotted an owl swooping out of a tree, probably after his 1st meal of the early evening.

So, I go inside, blinds drawn against the dark, and hunker down. Fall begins this Sunday. I'm dreading it.

Who ate my tree?

Even a friend, wiser than I about all things critter-wise, is unsure about what ate my little willow. The funny thing is that last night the critter came back and stripped off the bark that had been left hanging the night before (as seen in this picture). I'm stumped.

There's a porcupine in my pear tree

In the year that I've been at the ranch, I've seen deer, turkeys, pheasants, coyotes, hundreds of birds, and now a porcupine. Did a quick Google and learned that September is the start of their breeding season; I don't know whether that has any relationship to this sighting.

I'm not worried about the dogs, since porcupines are nocturnal and the dogs, well, Lucy, isn't allowed to run free past late afternoon, when the deer start coming around. Maggie runs free, but I keep an eye on her, especially during after-dark potty breaks, and she's not allowed to wander out of my sight.

Wish I could get a photo of the porcupine, but my camera couldn't manage it.

But, speaking of the girls, I DID get a photo of them.

P.S. I just figured out how to add a title to my blogs!