An early snowfall brought down a big branch from a back yard maple:
The split showed signs of rot from the top down, so it wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway.
Shortly after we pulled it off the driveway, three deer stopped by to see if this new thing might be edible. Deer do not normally eat maple leaves, but there’s not much left for them to eat around here.
Searching for deer will pull up far too many posts on the subject…
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
The small ranch next door now has a herd of a dozen or so mule deer. So far, they’ve left the zucchini alone (gave up on green beans– rabbits ate the greenery), but deer screening discourages them. They’ll hop the fences to go to the river for a drink. Drives the dogs crazy.
The other problem with the deer is the occasional mountain lion that stalks them. 100 pound kittycats make me nervous…
The deer know they don’t have to outrun the lion, they just have to outrun you!