New Life of Spring

Mother Nature sure has cycles figured out. Most wild herbivores (plant eaters) like deer have babies in the early spring giving them the best chance for survival before winter.
While the world oohs and ahhs over the beautiful spring flowers, hungry wild animals coming out of winter in survival mode can't wait to feast on the new life of spring.
Ever wonder what spring plants are on the menu for these survival artists?
  • Cool-season legume perennials (plants that live over two years)  - These are protein packed plants that deer love.  Clover for example is a plant deer can digest easily.  
  • Alfalfa can last for over five years.  
  • Chicory is a hardy plant with deep roots.  It's a unique plant that tolerates acidic soils, crowds out weeds and withstand drought. What’s more, it packs up to 30 percent protein in its leaves that deer need to build up both muscle and fat reserves for the winter.
How about the more colorful flowers deer love to munch on for much needed food sources?

  • Hardy geranium — also called cranesbill — is a 16- to 20-inch-tall deer-loving perennial.  producing dark pink blooms in early spring through late summer. 
  • Candy lily—is tolerant of dry, shallow and rocky soil and is fed on by deer. It grows to about 1 foot tall with lily-like blooms in bright orange, red purple and pink hues.
  • Sea holly is a drought and dry-soil tolerant perennial that deer like to feed on.
 
Here are more wild grown shrubs that produce berries deer enjoy snacking on from late Spring on:
 
  • Snowberries grow with heights of about 6 feet tall in full sun or partial shade. They produce hummingbird- and butterfly-attracting tubular-shaped blooms that are followed by white, waxy berries.
  • Serviceberries have berries that resembles blueberries and are consumed by deer, birds and humans.
  • Depending on the species, elderberries can grow to heights of 5 to 20 feet. In late spring, fragrant blooms appear and are followed by edible and shiny black berries.
 
So if you wonder how nature's adaptive creatures survive the harsh winter seasons the secret lies in the new life of spring that plant eating animals and their newborn young depend on to survive.
 
Sources:
 
http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-spring/
https://www.whitetailproperties.com/blog/what-to-plant-in-spring-food-plots-for-deer
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plants-attract-deer-46640.html

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