Sunday, September 23, 2007

Mow it yerself!

Down on the far end of our street there is a vacant lot. Since the lot has been deemed 'unbuildable' by the county it is not usable for home construction. The neighborhood developer quit paying taxes on it years ago. And he never kept it mowed. Which is generally fine.

The lot gives the deer somewhere to rest and they have direct access to creek and greenbelt. But lately I have been letting The Princess and The Talker hold onto the dog's leash while we are walking. The Big White Dog is not the best behaved dog on a leash. Let's just say he is easily distracted. Anything that should be chased WILL be chased. He will yank the leash holder down the street while he is running away. So when the kids are holding the leash I am always within arms reach of the dog.

One day last week The Princess was holding the leash when we walked past the vacant lot. The dog dang near stepped on a fawn who was sleeping in the high grass next to the sidewalk. Everyone involved was surprised. Most of all the deer.

Yesterday I went down and mowed the lot. Actually I only mowed part of the vacant lot. I don't want to take away the deer's rest stop, so I only mowed about an 8 foot strip beside the sidewalk. Plenty of tall grass left for loafing deer.

All in all it was a lot of work just to keep my dog from dragging my daughter down the street. But it was still cheaper than obedience lessons for either of them.

4 comments:

KC said...

What do obedience lessons for daughters cost? I'm needing to sign mine up ;)

Ginger said...

Last year when visiting my brother I volunteered to take their (very large) dog, Teddy, for a walk. We were going along pretty well when someone let their (small) yappie dog out. Off Teddy goes barrelling after the small vermin with my arm still attached to the leash. I had to take off running to catch my arm. I just glared at the woman as she glared at me for almost letting her dog get eaten.

Terry said...

Well, I sincerely hope you did not scare away the deer.. One of my favorite things is to stumble upon a doe and her fawn while I am out running...I think they have become accustomed to me, they no longer run away when I make my approach on the trail...

Just for the record, I am glad the princess did not get dragged into the lot.. Hope the surprise did not shake her up too bad!!

Love Bears All Things said...

Probably a good idea to keep the edge of the lot mowed because of snakes but leave the wild area for wildlike if you can stand it. I loved living near deer.
Mama Bear