This flower is in a cage at Ohiopyle State Park.
Pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule) orchids are found in Pennsylvania, but increasingly rare because deer like to eat them. The deer bite off the flower, leaving the stem and leaves behind.
Here’s what the entire flower looks like. Imagine it with a headless stem!
And here’s how these beautiful flowers are protected: a deer exclosure. Notice the 10-foot high fence with the yellow X. The sign explains why the exclosure is necessary.
Outside the fence I found five lady’s slippers with the chopped off heads. 🙁
We humans are the reason why there are too many deer in Pennsylvania and, so far, we haven’t the will to reduce their population to a sustainable level.
In the meantime we’re putting our most precious wildflowers in cages.
(photos by Kate St. John)
I was born and raised in Tioga County. So this brings to mind the wonder, of seeing Lady slippers, Trillium, and Jack-in-the-pulpits in the forests there.
At least the deer don’t eat the orchid leaves. With trillium, the deer eat the flowers and the leaves. This usually kills the trillium.
PA – A mountain lion’s dream.
Decapitating the flowers will probably save the plant, but it is death for the species, unless it is one that reproduces by underground tubers. No seeds, no new plants.
I had many plants in my woods. I’ve not found them the past two years, and now I know why. The deer are eating everything. I’m very sad right now…