Oh Dear, Oh Deer

The other evening at church, we asked A.J. about when he would be starting the Pumpkin Patch this year. Check last years blog - http://mountairyjournal.blogspot.com/2007/11/pumpkin-patch.html
He told us that it was really in jeopardy, because of the deer eating the crop. He normally sells 80% of his pumpkins to be trucked out to stores. This year the deer have eaten 80% of his whole crop of pumpkins. The remaining 20% was to be used for the Pumpkin Patch and he wasn't sure it would make it. So, instead of 5 Saturdays he was going to cut it to 3 weeks and hope he had some left to do it.

The deer have eaten 4 acres of pumpkins. A.J. had to acquire a special permit from the Game Warden to shoot the deer destroying his crop. He told me later that there were more than a few neighbors that were upset with him protecting what was left of his crop and shooting the deer. They were concerned that he might be hurting the hunting season that is coming soon.

It's a real shame in several ways. A.J. has lost all the work and time that he invested in the pumpkins, not to mention the income. The community may lose the enjoyment of the Pumpkin Patch. St.Andrews UMC usually sells hot dogs, drinks, and snacks at the Pumpkin Patch on Saturdays as a fund raiser and we may lose that. The fact is I enjoyed simply going to the Pumpkin Patch on the Saturdays it was open last year and I've been looking forward to it this year.

I guess what really torqued my jaw was people complaining about A.J. shooting the deer and trying to save what is left , simply because they wanted to shoot them later.

There is one slight silver lining here. A.J. has made a corn maze and a hay maze, made with those huge rolls of hay. The deer haven't started chowing on those yet, so we can still go play. Maybe we can do a Sunday service there. Just a thought.