Saturday, November 19, 2022 As you leave the ranch and go up the hill into Francis there is a brick wall at the very top and piles of dirt behind it. We left for a bite to eat last night and were happy to see these neighbors climbing up to watch the sunset. These are Mule deer, the most common deer in the west and thankfully not the white tail deer which populate areas east of the Mississippi River. White tail deer are a host for the meningeal worm which can affect and even kill alpacas. Alpacas in the east must be injected with ivermectin type dewormers monthly to avoid getting sick. But thankfully we don’t have to do that or give any injections, so we get along just fine with our deer neighbors. Actually the dogs don’t allow them near the property but that’s their job. I wonder if that’s what it was that had all 4 dogs upset and barking at 3:30 am. <yawn> They made quite the ruckus and we were close to heading out, but then it deescalated. Back to bed for all sounded better since it was 2 degrees on the thermometer this morning. Brrrr. Stay warm and have a good Saturday!
Photo of the day: Neighbors up the road.
Brenda Sorensen
What a great photo! And I learned some things I didn’t know about deer!
Linda
Thanks for your comment Brenda!
Jan
Wow! Fantastic capture, Lin!!
Linda
Thanks! I was lucky to get Farmer Ed to stop the car on that hill!
Lana
They are so beautiful! And lucky they don’t carry ‘the worm’. We have the white tail deer, but luckily they have not been infected around here. (The moose get sick from those worms too, so they are our warning signs.) We used to do shots, but haven’t in the last few years as no sick/dying moose reports have come in from either here in NH or in nearby Maine. Six strand electric keeps them away as do our dogs. Yay! Stay warm! We think temps in the 20’s are cold since we were in the 70’s last weekend. Hope your temps warm up some!
Linda
Thanks Lana. I love to watch the deer. Interesting about the moose, I learn something new every day. I thought it was pretty black and white as far as needing the shots back east.