Where the Deer in the Cantaloupe Play

We love living in the country and the seclusion it provides.  We are also amazed at the variety of wildlife that get up close and personal all the time.  After we had lived here for a few years, we got an Akita puppy.  Having already had an Akita, we loved the breed and it made perfect sense to get another.  We named her Sadie and she lived a long life on the farm.  As a young dog, Sadie kept the critters out of the yard, the deer and hogs out of the garden, and she was an excellent babysitter!  She would place herself between the kids and any area beyond the yard and not let them pass.  She guarded them very carefully, just as she guarded the farm.

We took up gardening and had a large garden every year for a number of years.  Each year the garden was larger and finally my husband decided to add watermelons and cantaloupes to our already large garden.  For several years, the cantaloupes and watermelons did well thanks to Sadie's vigilance.  However, as Sadie grew older, she became a little less interested in the deer being around.  The deer sensing her complacence, took full advantage.  As it happens, they loved the cantaloupe and watermelon and began to realize that we had it each year, and at the same time.  They would come and bring their family to our garden smorgasbord.

After a while, we began to notice pieces of cantaloupe and watermelon in the yard.  It seemed strange that the deer would drag them into the yard - adding insult to injury!  It was even stranger that Sadie was allowing this practice.  We began watching more carefully.  As we drove into our yard one evening, we found it full of deer and Sadie watching calmly from the porch where she was laying.  The minute she saw us, she sprang into action and chased those silly deer out of the yard.  The next morning there were pieces of cantaloupe and watermelon in our yard again.  Even stranger, Sadie was eating the fruit all the way to the rind.  It seemed she had developed a taste for the fine fruit the deer left broken in the garden - such a waste to just leave it there.  Somewhere along the line, she had realized that if she left the deer alone for just a while, they would leave her some fruit.  Sadie and the deer were in collusion!

Our garden didn't stand a chance after that.  We very often saw Sadie come walking up with a cantaloupe or piece of watermelon in her mouth.  She was fourteen when we lost her.  The farm hasn't been the same since.  However, the deer show up each year patiently waiting on us to plant their garden again.