Vigilante Gardener

As many of us do, I live in an area that has a high population of deer. There are no natural predators, other than the avid hunter in season, so they continue to grow. Our over-development of their natural habitat for our commercial and residential greed have displaced them and cause them to seek alternate means of sustenance. And that usually includes our flowers or vegetable gardens.

When I first moved into my home 3 years ago, I bought lots of flowers, trying to create the perfect landscape. Within a few weeks, they were eaten by thieves who snuck in at dawn. On the occasional morning that I was up early and not hurriedly preparing for work, I would look out my back window and see these lovelies in my yard.




Suddenly, I was no longer annoyed by my lack of flowers and I welcomed the sight of them. Today, I don't bother planting flowers anymore and I enjoy seeing the doe with her fawns, relaxing in the secret solace of my backyard.

That's why I was so horrified by this local news story.

Resident Dorothy Richardson, 76, said she was defending herself when she beat to death a 25-pound fawn that was crouched in her flower bed, then stuffed the fawn's body in a cardboard box and put it out on trash day.

A widow, she said she has been defending her garden against deer for years and this time took a shovel and beat the fawn until it died.

She said the fawn's eyes contacted hers, like he was going to jump and bite her head off.

Euclid City Councilman Christopher Gruber says Richardson told him something different.

Gruber says Richardson said she hit it once and, according to her, it screamed and she hit it two more times, then she said that what she wanted to do was put it at the end of the yard so the other deer know not to mess with her.

Gruber is now a witness in the animal abuse case against Richardson. If convicted, she faces up to 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

I hope she gets the maximum. At the very least, someone should hit her over the head with a shovel.