Deer signs, part 2

As I was raking the leaves from under and around the maple in the front yard the other day, I took a look at the cactus bed, wondering how I was going to get most of those leaves out.

Then I noticed something: The Opuntia cacanapa 'Ellisiana' that was the anchor to this end of the bed didn't look right. It didn't have the presence that it usually did.

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You see, the three plants I put into the ground this summer were all two or three pads tall, like their potted siblings:

But now there is a definite lack of height. Pads are missing!

Yep, those are missing pad sockets all right. (I'm not sure what the correct botanical term is, but "sockets" seems to fit.)

Moving a few leaves around, I found the detached parts:

I'm not entirely certain, but this looks a lot like a hoof imprint:

And this next one, well, it appears to be tooth marks to me:

Deer!

I can almost see the Goldilocks-like scene playing out...

...this one is too wrinkled...

...and this one is too prickly...

...but this one is just right!

I guess I should be happy that they didn't actually eat the pads -- or did they? I found only three pads, but it looks like there are four empty sockets...

I do hope they're done with their taste-testing here though. These are the Opuntia that have the best chance of gaining some height for me, but not if they keep getting deer-whacked!

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