MUM NIBBLERS

I was about to walk out my front door, carrying all of my work bags, when I noticed my beautiful purple chrysanthemums pots, at the bottom of my front steps, laying on their side with half of the flowers chewed off.

“Oh, come on!” I cried as I dropped my bags in the hall and went to pick up the pots.

My son Alex must have heard me cry out. He came to the already open the front door. “What’s wrong?”

I was picking up one of the pots. Broken flowers were all around the bottom of the plant. “Stinking mum nibblers!” I cursed under my breath.

“What?” Alex walked down the steps to see what I was talking about.

“Look!” I pointed to the area where the flowers had been eaten. “I thought the deer didn’t like chrysanthemums!”

I walked over to the other pot and tipped it upright. “Can you go in the kitchen and get a pair of scissors for me?”

“Sure.” Alex went back in the house.

I stuck my finger into the soil to see if they needed a drink. “Nope. You’re all good.”

Alex came back out and handed me the scissors.

“Thanks.” I began snipping off all the broken stems. Once I had a handful of mums I looked over at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “At least it will make a nice bouquet for the dining room table.”

I began turning the pots around so the nibbled side was up against the house and the flowers were once again facing the street.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Alex asked.

I was confused. “I’m turning them so we can see the flowers.”

“Or, are you turning them so the deer can reach those flowers now?”

I sighed as I shook my head. “I didn’t think about that.” I looked down at the flowers. “I guess I could leave them like this during the day then spin them around after dinner.”

“If you remember.” Alex said as he followed me into the house.

“That’s true.” I reached for a glass and filled it with water before plopping my fistful of flowers in it. “There! It’s beautiful!” I placed it on the table and looked over at Alex. “I don’t know why they have to eat my flowers now. Why can’t they just be happy emptying my bird feeders every night?”

Alex looked out the kitchen window at the feeders. “They emptied them too.”

“Well, now they’re just being pigs!”

I went to the back door to get the bird seed when I stopped and looked at my watch. “I don’t have time to fill them right now.” I went back to the front hall where I’d dropped my bags. “I wanted to be in work early today.” I picked up my bags and headed for the door. “I’ll fill them when I get home.”

Alex opened the door for me. As I was stepping out I looked across the street. Two deer were in our neighbor’s back yard. The noise of the door opening must have startled them because they had both stopped what they’d been doing and were looking over at us.

“Stinking mum nibbles.” I said under my breath.

Alex laughed. “It might not have even been those two.”

I shook my head. “No. It was them.” I looked back at Alex. “I can see their guilt from here.”