The cheek of roe deer

A couple of days ago I noticed how well the Irrepressible Rose that grows by the front porch was doing. It was well leaved and the main shoot had wound a little into the support trellis. This morning my jaw dropped when I opened the storm doors and noticed most of the leaves had gone!

The culprits are roe deer. They browse. They nibble. Nothing is sacred. Blighters! ;)

They (or it) had stripped the two lesser shoots as well.

The mosses underneath one of the rose shoots are looking good though. These three are Atrichum undulatum (Common Smoothcap–the one with capsules), Thuidium tamariscum (Common Tamarisk-moss–the 'lacy', pale one), and Calliergonella cuspidata (Pointed Spear-moss–the feathery one with sharp points). All three are very common on the Boggy Brae but no less lovely for all that.

Young Hart's-tongue ferns near the porch rose had also been visited by the nibbler.

Oh to have been there, invisible, scentless, and with night vision, when the deer came so close!

Turning around to look at the dry stone wall behind me, I enjoyed the lichen patterns on some of the rocks. You can see pics here

And here's a closer look at tile and moss patterns on the old porch floor