Ah, the Pests -  there was once a time when I loved the sighting of a deer.  You remember, don't you?  Those beautiful creatures bounding off into the woods.  So graceful, so innocent looking.  Sometimes seen near campgrounds or county parks; oh, and occasionally in someone's front yard.  But, not mine. 

We have lived peacefully in our house for 23 years. Our neighborhood is quiet - good neighbors, not much traffic, not many fences. We've always had a garden and were bothered only by the squirrels and a few pesky raccoons.  Well . . . . .  in the past few years that has all changed.  We are a just few blocks from the Willamette River with a strip of woods abutting our back yard - one might call it a wildlife corridor.  To our dismay, we have seen an ever increasing number of deer munching their way through our garden.

At first we thought they were cute, then we clapped our hands and shooed them away, then we threw pebbles, then attempted to scare them off with a BB gun.  Last summer we found something that worked pretty well, if we remembered to turn it on: a high powered sprinkler head with a motion sensor. This little genius is called a Scare Crow.  It delivers a sharp burst of water whenever something walks in front of the sensor.  While it's true that everyone in the family received a few wet surprises last summer, it did deter the deer. Although effective, it's difficult to protect the entire perimeter of the garden without a large arsenal of sensors. We managed to protect the plum tree and raspberries, but were unable to keep the deer completely out of the yard.

Well, we've had enough. This is the year of the Final Solution.  After much searching online, we decided to try a 7 1/2 foot polypropolene deer fence.  The fence is relatively easy to install and difficult to see, for deer and others.  The theory is that the deer can't see how tall it is and won't attempt to jump it. Today we succeeded in surrounding the garden with the fence. Just in the nick of time.

In the last couple of days the deer have dined more than once on the tender new leaves of the raspberry patch.  But, no more. They will have a much harder time, I'm hoping impossible time, sneaking into our garden now. I only wish that we could watch their surprise when they attempt to step in tonight for their treat.