Please forgive this thread as being somewhat off topic. I laughed when I read this and had to respond to Heli Vires-Collins' comments about deer damage (copied below). I have a "white tail highway" running through my yard. I also used to work for a landscaper, and have extensive gardens on my property. And I feed birds. When you consider that a single mature tree installed by a landscaper can cost several hundred dollars, and a small patio area fully landscaped with mature trees and shrubs can cost ten grand, and a handful of deer can munch them or antler rub them to ragged sticks practically overnight -- the cost of deer damage cited is not surprising at all. Never mind the cost to our native wildflowers, which have all but vanished in Summit County. Although I spend a tiny fraction of that on my DIY plantings, I find it more than annoying when evergreen shrubs I've been nursing along for three years get destroyed in a day by just a few deer. I beg people to hunt on my property! If we can't hunt them to reasonable densities, then I want some timber wolves! I used to have an old apple tree that deer flocked to, especially in winter, to eat the apples laying on the ground. I cut that old apple tree down and now the deer eat my azaleas and evergreens instead. I wish I could put that tree back up! :-) My bird feeders are securely mounted, 100% metal with weighted perches (which works for both grackles and deer snouts), and so far have only been knocked down a couple of times (crossing fingers). It's true that the deer get smarter, while I get dumber. Trying desperately to "live with" the deer, Karen Gray - - - - - - It's annoying when they eat some of my plants but I think the claim that they caused thousands of dollars in damage to someone's property sounds like incredible. I have never had a deer at a bird feeder. Thankfully the rule preventing bird feeders below 6 feet was scrapped. I wonder what the neighbors will do about the apple tree down the street that the deer enjoy when the apples start to drop. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]