Well, it happened again, this morning.
The new bird feeder was knocked down and emptied.
Remarkably, my quick fix using cord held, while the metal crimp at the other end gave out.
We have no way to keep it from the deer right now, so we’re giving up for now. Once the snow is gone and there is food available elsewhere, the deer stop coming to the feeding station, so we will wait before putting the feeder back up.
Which is too bad, because the birds were really happy to have it back!
We certainly expect to have issues with squirrels and raccoons getting at the hanging feeder. I never expected to have issues with deer going after it! We’ve had hanging feeders there since we brought the stand from where we found it in the maple grove to this area, and the deer had never gone for it until this year. Mind you, with the wind constantly knocking the stand down, they didn’t have to. Now the main post is buried in the ground, so that might be making the difference. That and it’s March, and there’s still lots of snow on the ground, so they’re probably getting pretty hungry.
Which reminds me.
Since we had to dig out the septic tank, we now have access to that corner of the house. The roof faces north, and is the only place we still have snow. It builds up in a corner where the old kitchen roof joins the main part of the house, where a huge ice dam forms. Most snow remains on the north facing roof of the old kitchen.
This morning, I brought over the extended pole roof shovel to see if I could break through the crust that has formed on top of all the snow, and get some of it down. It actually worked, more or less. I got a lot more down than I thought I would, though even with the pole extended as long as it could, I still couldn’t reach parts of the snow. In some places, it was because the septic tank lid itself was in the way.
Still, I got quite a lot of it down. The ice dam in the corner now has several feet of built up snow cleared away from it, so it should actually start melting faster, as it’s no longer in the shadow of the snow pile. I must say, though, walking around on that insulated tarp was its own challenge. That thing is so slippery! However, the snow I got down mostly landed on it, so when it melts, it will flow away from the house. I guess that makes one benefit for the insulated tarp that straw doesn’t have. I still think we’ll go back to covering the tank with straw, though. Much easier to access the tank with a lot of snow on the ground!
Ugh. I really should be heading into town right now, but I just don’t want to go.
The Re-Farmer 
Have you considered putting out some type of something just for the deer? Like a deer corn block? I know you probably don’t want to encourage them. I have a similar issue with squirrels in my bird feeders.
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That is part of our long term plan. One of the things we want to do is plant forage trees and seeds, well away from the house, for all the wildcritters. I do want to make sure the renter is okay with what we plant, though, since we would be doing this where his cattle graze and water. It would be good for them, too, but he is all about grass fed beef, so I want to make sure he’s okay with things like forage turnips and the like.
Short term, we could pick up a hay bale and set it out by the barn or something (before the snow falls, since we don’t have the equipment to clear that much snow to access the barn), but hay is in such short supply right now – and expensive! – I’d rather it went to farmers to feed their cattle.
For now, though, we’re kind of stuck with them.
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