By GARY EDWARDS
HLR RESIDENT
My wife and I have lived at Holly Lake Ranch for 15 years. We came here for the golf, the comfort of living in a gated community and the wild life and that includes the deer.
It is with sarcastic amusement that I listen to the growing chorus of voices that demand we quit feeding the deer and that we kill the deer. Aw geeze, didn't mean to use that word!. "Harvest" the deer or "thin" the deer is more palatable isn't it?
We watched a recent dog and pony show of counting the deer as though that matters (it doesn't) and we heard a pre-determined result that we have too many deer and that the only thing we can do is quit feeding them and kill some. There's that word again.
$150 fine for feeding deer? Are you crazy!
So let me get this straight... the State won't help us kill our deer if we won't quit feeding them. Wow! What a nice group of folks we are.
There are those among us who like the deer... like them in any number they choose to come in as a matter of fact.
When those who want to rid this area of the deer moved here, the deer were already here; so what is it that bothers them about the deer? Do they eat the pretty flowers? Probably. They ate ours... ate our peach tree darn near to the ground and did just that to our cherry tree and of course, the strawberry and blueberry plants were no match for them either.
But we didn't cry about it, we learned to live with it and enjoy the deer for what they are.
If you don't like the deer, why don't you do what you'd do if you found out you'd moved next door to the mafia.... find a place that has no deer and don't force on those of us who moved here for the deer, to change for your sake.
One of the most enjoyable moments of my time here was watching a deer eat corn from my 88 year old mother's hand. Moments like that are priceless. Reading the minutes of the A/B Board meeting leaves me almost speechless.
"The meat is not wasted" is supposed to make us all feel nice and warm and fuzzy, like if we sell our daughters into the sex slave trade business and the money goes to the Salvation Army we can all accept it.
"The deer problem is probably affecting timeshare owners," is almost insane. Many of those time share owners come here for the deer and as for affecting them, excuse me but why should their feelings take precedence over those who live here year round and pay to keep this place beautiful?
In short, the "over population" of deer issue put forth by a few is pure rubbish. What some don't like are the deer eating their pretty flowers. Well folks that's the price we pay for living in the country shoulder to shoulder with nature.
If you don't like it, fence your yard. Oh I forgot, there's a rule against that isn't there?
One more thought and then I'll let you rest.
As a nation we sometimes wonder why immigrants come here and then want to change us into what they've run away from.
I'd suggest the same parallel can be drawn for us at HLR. Why move here if you don't like the deer? Last I remember there were few deer in South Oak Cliff or Richardson. Just people, lots of people and traffic and smog and ... aw geeze, you understand don't you?. Because that's why you moved here. Remember?
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