The weather is great! I have noticed less damage in my gardens this year. I have to admit I have seen fewer, but I still ocasionally see them in the neighbors yards. I spray habitually though. Once I saw them walk through my yardful of yummies to get to the neighbors hosta. I have tons of hosta here...but none were touched. ( Hope I didn't jinx myself ) I did notice fewer butterflies.. I wonder if the spray that hits the leaves or flowers leaves a residue that the butterflies can 'taste' There are butterflies, but not as many as I usually see. Do you notice a difference in that by you? JoAnn

I don't spray the plants inside my fence, just the ones against the house. I haven't noticed a lack of butterflies, but we have a huge amount of those huge flies that dive bomb your face. I put out one of those fly catcher jars baited with raw liver in water, and it seems to be doing the trick.

I noticed that through the winter, the deer seemed to always enter my yard by a certain path. Soo, this spring I put up two hundred and fifty feet of deer netting across that assumed path. I believe they are creatures of habit and that my netting has confused them for a while. :)
We have had a lot of horse flies tho. I'm almost thinking of taking and using the 'tips' from the website below. Especially the baseball hat one. I'm just afraid I might get my hand stuck in it, when I go to scratch my head.

http://ufinsect.ifas.ufl.edu/deerfly_trap.htm

I'm guessing that all the deer that aren't showing up at y'all's house are hanging around mine. They are thick in my yard. Most of my garden is properly fenced, but the stuff around my house has been hit horribly! Also noticing more deer ticks this year.

Orcutt, thanks for the website. It's very informative! I may wear one of those on my head so I can take walks again.

I have seen less deer, and a huge absence of butterflies myself.

Unfortunatly, the groundhogs invaded.

Also, I can't take this humidity much longer.

Have a nice week, fellow residents.

When I first read your post I was just thinking the same thing. Then, a couple of weeks later, following one of the big rains and my own lax spraying, they returned with a vengeance. They devoured most of my daylilies (only the carefully selected, expensive, special order ones- left the dime-a-dozens), some tuberous begonias, echinacea, daisies and dahlias. My neighbor noticed a group of about nine of them crossing my property in the early mist of the morning. Curse you, red baron!

I concur: my yard hasn't been touched, though most of my flowers are "deer resistent" and usually they just come in to eat the hosta flowers. this year they're not even touching them. I did take a chance on hollyhocks and they're safe too. I bought Deernik that one of the graden magazines recommended but haven't had to use it or any other deterrent. My neighbor thinks it's her deer zappers that are working, usually she's devasted by now. But I think in Ulster County it's just so lush out there in the woods they're not bothering with us until a little later in the summer.
Also, we heard that further up in the Catskills where gypsy moths and I guess other caterpillars have deforested part of the mountains: that black fly were released to attack the gypsy moths. Don't know if that's true but they are really bad up there.
Also, I have gotten 4 ticks this spring/summer, and only 1 before that in the last 10 years. And one gave me the bullseye rash so I just finished anitbiotics for Lyme. Another neighbor is also being treated for Lyme. I remember 10 years ago Lyme was not considered a big threat in Ulster County .

Normal amount of deer here ... right now I'm staring at 5 of them just beyond the 7 foot fence. It's kind of funny that my cats think the deer are prey and the deer just laugh at them! Ticks are another matter - they have been really bad this year. Normally, we never get ticks but this season I've pulled 2 dog ticks off the cats and a bunch more off of guests who have gone hiking in the Mohonk Preserve. So far, no deer ticks (no Lyme) but I'll definitely be wearing long pants when climbing for the rest of the year.

Did I say fewer deer? The deer must have heard me...there are two new fawns in the neighborhood. Beautiful, but alas I know they are going to eat my new hosta garden. They will taste anything..I have seen it..the little ones are spunky and eat things the adults leave alone..not that the adults leave my hosta alone. They do since I've been spraying..but I somehow doubt that will control the wee ones. I can see the momma deer saying Don't eat that it tastes bad..and the little one doing it anyway. Chomp Chomp Chomp...yeah you're right...I'll try this one over here..chomp chomp chomp...AAAHHHRRRR... but they are beautiful.

I don't know what i'm doing right, but, I have not seen a deer in weeks! Finally, i'm able to see what color my daylilies are! They are yellow, orange and red!
I've only one dog now. The other died last week. But, I have not found a tick yet this summer. I usually only get beseiged in early spring and fall. Use Frontline...
I like this summer so far. Good rain, lots o green lush, and the humidity has calmed down...

This year we've seen more deer, including a baby and her mother right by our pool. Butterflies, too. tons of them. Actually more of everything. been a pretty good year, except that my mower died.

I drive on South Street in Goshen everyday on my way to work. For those of you that are unfamiliar with South Street, it consists of very large, old, stately and expensive homes. Yesterday there was a deer munching on the grass right on the front lawn of one of these mansions. I was so surprised to see it in the thick of an established neighborhood, I stopped my car to look at it. She just stood there looking back at me munching away.

There's an awful lot of expensive landscaping in that neighborhood.

I think there are MORE deer than ever this year. Maybe the wet spring and lush mid-summer kept them fed on non-floral items? In any case they come to eat under our apple trees every year, but this year it's out of control. I regularly see two mothers with two fawns each at least ten times a day. They circle around and around each time hoping for more drops. Argh!!!

My bedroom is in the second story, almost in the branches of a Hopa crab apple. This morning I looked down to see a spotted fawn right up against my back door. When I tapped on the window he ran off to the woods and complained to his mama who came over to find out what was going on. She saw me looking down on her, then noticed some fallen apples and called baby over to share the loot. That back door is outside my deer fence and I see herds of them moving along the creek bed and munching, munching.......
Incidentally, my big German shepherd saw the pair of them, said 'oh, you again!' and then curled up and napped. Fat lot of good she is.