Three deer regularly visit our front yard to eat from a flowering crab tree heavily-laden with cherry-sized apples that determinedly cling to their branches despite winter's grip. Frustratingly, the deer believe that my perennials, shrubs, and young tree branches are free game, too. So, determined to retrain our visitors, Dick and I set some beyond-their-prime apples upon a chair along a pathway where we often sit. Far away from our house and the landscaping surrounding it.
After checking twice each day, our efforts proved fruitful. On the third day, it was evident that the deer had conferred and agreed to each leave a snack for later, as there were but three apples remaining. Going forward, have we seen nary one deer in our yard? Did our kindness have a boomerang effect? I would like to report that our deer have not returned. But such would be a tale. One that gives hope to countless others. When hope is something I cannot give. Our experiment produced healthier deer. Nothing more. Their willingness to be retrained is hopelessly nonexistent.