Deer in my garden

Last year I spent a week in the bush hunting deer. I didn't see one the whole time. When we got home, there were 4 deer in my yard. A bit of a nose-thumping there, but it was okay. They can't do any damage in November. Springtime is different. That's when I don't want any animals in my yard, especially not in my garden. Last year I had to fight with the rabbits. I put up little fences to keep them out of the garden. So far this year I haven't had any problems with rabbits eating my vegetables. Just this morning I did some inspecting after the storm. Everything is growing nicely. The plants are a little flat from the rain and look disheveled from the wind, but mostly everything was okay. My beets are quite tall already. They stood out so nicely after I managed to weed the beet bed before the heavy rain started.That was this morning.

Shortly after noon my wife calls me excitedly and tells me to look out of the window. At first I was also excited when I saw who had come visiting my yard and my garden. I snapped a few pictures and I was elated, but when they began pulling stuff out of the ground the elation was replaced with frustration. We had to yell out of the window to chase them away. They took off and I rushed into the garden to inspect the damage and I was not a happy gardener. Many of the beet tops had been bitten off. I hope the beets recover. The worst part was they came back after we chased them away, but I couldn't see any more damage. They may have nibbled on the lettuce, but right now there are so many weeds after the rain, it is hard to tell.

Here are a couple of pictures:

2 nice bucks. A welcome sight during hunting but not at home in the garden

A sample of the damage they left behind.