Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Friday 12 October 2007

An intruder in the vegetable garden

There are signs that an intruder has been walking over the raised beds in the vegetable garden. Neat triangular hoofprints.


The studio assistant was keen to show me that her paws could not have made the prints - she has been ruled out of the inquiry.


This is the main suspect.

18 comments:

  1. Well, if it's deer, it's grim, and if it's muntjac that's the worst of all. We have them occasionally, and they are the worst of all the deer that visit here ... make sure you protect your roses, because that is prime deer food.

    Here's something worth trying: hang human hair on any plant you want to protect (the easiest way to do that is to put it into sections of laddered tights). Orange peel also. Or little strips of tinfoil. The trouble with all this, as my husband points out, is that the garden begins to look like a gypsy encampment. But at least the roses are intact.

    GOOD LUCK!

    Joanna
    joannasfood.blogspot.com

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  2. I've never heard of this deer before. Such beautifully delicate features. For your sake, I hope it doesn't have a big appetite or a taste for purple peas. ;)

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  3. Cats are very clever.. are you sure they haven't made themselves little booties just to fool you?

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  4. Oh poor you! Muntjac are a menace.

    A friend of mine hit one on the road. He hung it for a few days and made a wonderful slow cooked casserole with the meat. They are not supposed to have tasty meat but this was delicious.

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  5. Very funny post Celia. I love the paw suspects. Are you sure its not an obese peacock?
    PS I live in London

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  6. Those little deer are darling but your garden is in real jeopardy!

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  7. Thanks for the advice Joanna - hope s/he doesn't become a regular visiter and bring her/his friends.

    Hi Wendy - they escaped (were released?) from Woburn in Bedfordshire less than a hundred years ago - and now they seem to be everywhere! Perhaps not in Scotland (yet!)

    Hi Matron - you're on to something there - Puss-in-Boots!

    Hi CS - I'm sure muntjac casserole would be delicious!

    Hi GBVC - :)

    Hi Becca - most of the garden is inside a high brick wall, but the veg garden is on a strip of land outside the wall and alongside a brook. When the water level is low the muntjac can easily cross over and get into the garden, and autumn seems to be a favourite time of year. The deer population seems to be increasing around here - we'll have to be on guard!

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  8. Those paws do look very naughty though don't they! :)

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  9. You surprised us with the deer...thought for sure it was one of you studio assistants!!!

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  10. Oop! Last comment was me, not Thomas!

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  11. Hi Lucy - very perceptive comment, "Miss Chief" may look cute but she is just thinking up her next dastardly scheme!

    Hi Meg - now who's in disguise!

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  12. Incidentally I live very close to Woburn and see muntjac all the time, not surprisingly. They are quite odd looking when you see the 'teeth', not the most beautiful of all the different breeds but certainly still adorable in my book.

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  13. Like Lucy, I live near Woburn too so see these creatures very frequently. I hope you don't get invaded too frequently they can really cause damage in a garden.

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  14. I thought that perhaps the intruder was a dog and that's why your studio assistant was so keen to let you know that the paws were not here.

    This is a new kind of deer to me ... it is beautiful, but not exactly what you want munching on your veggies.

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  15. Hi Lucy and Toffeeapple - I wonder how many muntjac there are living wild in England?

    Hi Kate - it's easy to mistake a muntjac for a large labrador dog when you see one from a distance.

    Celia

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  16. Hi, Magic Cochin,
    Apparently they are to be seen as far North as the Humber, so quite a number in the whole of the British Isles.

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  17. Time for extra high fencing?!

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  18. As an adagium says, that cats can learn tricks, they just sometimes choose not to;)
    meaouwy,
    -eri-
    Is there any relation between make up and pretty cats? Have your say in http://felinesophy.blogspot.com

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