Another spring, another hoping I will be able to beat the deer back… last year was one of my worst ever, the population keeps growing and its getting harder each year.
I don’t have any possibility to fence in the yard so I need to use repellants. I got some help from motion detector sprinklers (these guys) but I have concluded that with high pressure I only have about a month worth of protection from them. Similarly for the repellant sprays, one type will work for maybe a month and then they will just dive in. On top of that I lose momentum as the season goes along so the quality of coverage declines; I hope to hold the sprinklers more in reserve for that.
Here is my “new revised yet even better plan” (hah) for 2018:
Fence in a few really critical areas. This year I made about 20’ of fenced in row for my small bush cherries that got munched last year, as well as some nursery grafts. Fencing is a pain to install but I may add even more on the newer plants.
Don’t keep the sprinklers on all the time – save the sprinklers (and their batteries) as a reserve for when an extra oomph is needed, e.g. I am away on vacation or its been raining too much to have good repellant coverage. Since the deer get accommodated over time, if they are almost always off they will not be accommodating to them nearly so quickly.
Rotate amongst a number of repellants. I am planning on no more than two sprays in a row with the same repellant type. This year I have a mint one (either Deer Stop or Deer Out), cinnamon (Deer Stop II), blood (Plantskydd; the best in rainy periods so will save for that), rotton egg and hot pepper (Bobbex). And, it goes without saying to be diligent on re-applying repellants after rains or after enough growth.
Aggressively prune out lower growth I don’t need, so they need to work harder for their food. Deer prefer lower heights based on the patterns I see, they will reach way up but prefer not to. I have many random sprouts lower down which I have been working hard to eliminate.
Raise the fruiting plane. I am working on getting all of my trees to have fruit at 5’ or higher; only the berries are not going to be able to work into this plan. Again this doesn’t prevent all damage but it makes the work more. It also makes it a lot easier to apply repellents, you just need to hit the lower branches and you are done.
Zero tolerance. “Theres nothing to eat in my yard, don’t ever bother coming here.” I don’t actually care too much if they say my Hostas, but I am going to protect them diligently anyway, just to de-motivate them from ever showing up.
Comments appreciated from others also fighting heavy deer pressure without the ability to fence it all in.
Scott, I’ve toyed with the idea of plugging a cheap boom box into a motion detector and putting the speakers in different, varying spots. Don’t know how the neighbors would like it but if it seems workable to you I think there are tapes available with different predator sounds. Or you could just cue up your old Jimi and Janis stuff.
I gather any fencing is a problem. But if you haven’t already tried it some people have suggested a single wire of electric with a little peanut butter here and there. The idea is that they taste the pb and get shocked- a little aversion therapy.
We have a considerable population here, too. One concern I have is that in time cougars generally follow whitetail populations. I’ve gotten to the point where I’d like to see the city tackle the issue.
I’m lucky that the Amish are moving in the area. They pretty much can take out a large amount. I’ve always wanted to get a nuisance tag to shoot them. The game warden didn’t go for it.
A solar light with motion detector and a modification with a buzzer was a thought.
No kidding. We haven’t had a problem in my immediate neighborhood—until recently. This one herd of three young bucks. They seem like a gang of juvenile delinquents to me.
There’s some hunting in my area so I was hoping they would be taken out last fall, but no such luck. Now I’ve seen three does crossing the road.
If I were king there would be “Urban hunting season” one day per year. Everyone would stay indoors until 8:00 a.m. some Saturday and let the bow hunters work their magic.
I’m discovering this spring the effects of deer damage is further reaching than I had realized. Those late summer eating sessions caused a lot of late growth that never hardened off and that growth didn’t make it though the winter.
Has anyone tried predator scents? When I was a kid my mom’s veggie garden was mowed down repeatedly by deer. My dad was a veterinarian and his business partner did work for The Utica Zoo. The staff there bagged up some Mtn Lion manure and he gave that to mom to put in her garden. Not a single deer near that garden for the rest of that summer.
I think that’s a good idea. I think our own pee might work some, and I imagine it would work best if the pee-er has been eating lots of meats. (Given that some predators, including bears and cougars, sometimes cache their kills the smell of rotten meat might help.)
I’ve had good luck dispersing well aged urine (aka super stinky urine) around the perimeter and caging each tree w/ rolled wire fence. Started doing that in the fall and haven’t seen a deer or any damage since. Now I need to focus on squirrel prevention. The cages won’t slow them down.
Just a follow up… so this is my security light going off and my camera taking a shot last night. The light doesn’t even bother them. This is like a freeway for deer at my house…
I didn’t know that! I don’t hunt for meat any longer but when I did we were assiduously careful about where we peed, on the theory that deer would avoid it. But there’s lots of things people believe that just aren’t so.
My impression of the coyote urine etc is its not very different from the other repellants in effectiveness but costs more. So I have not tried those yet.
We have a bow hunter neighbor boy who has tried some but so far without any luck. I am hoping when he is a bit older he will get more skilled.
With kids living on all sides of us I don’t want to do an electric fence. Its mighty tempting though.
@Mickster re: squirrels I am a convert to the squirrelinator traps this spring. They are getting much better results than my Kania or tube traps. If the problem is bad get several… I have four of them.
I put up my fishing line fence over the weekend. Last year it seemed to work for about two months before being breached but I took no extra steps like sprays. My new plan is to raise the upper level fishing line up to six feet, have one line at about 4 feet and one at two feet. I am using a thinner line so maybe the deer won’t see it as easily. I don’t know. I will also be spraying two repellents, which I will alternate, around the perimeter of the fence.
The township installed new LED street lights in my neighborhood. One of them is right next to my orchard so really illuminates my property. I am wondering if this will make any difference. I doubt it.
A neighbor down the street installed a motion detector that makes a scary growling sound and has a strobe light that blinks like crazy whenever the detector is set off. I’ll ask them if this made any difference.
I feel bad for you guys with deer problems…makes my issues with squirrels look like a walk in the park…while I may lose some fruit, a squirrel isn’t going to eat the tree…
My fishline lasted for about a month. I tried many different types and spacing. It also took many hours to put up all around my yard so I’m done messing with that. If it was easier to put up I would have it up for a month in the rotation of deterrents.
We also got LED street lights a few years ago. I don’t think the deer care either way, if anything they may like the lights as they can see better at night.
The strobe/growl could be one more good deterrent to throw into the mix, I’d be interested on how that one works. What is needed with high pressure is a whole bunch of different deterrents to rotate in.
Other than a dog (or coyotes, wolves, mountain lions) I don’t think any long term, consistently effective solutions exist to keep deer from doing what they want to do.
… or a bow and arrow … or just put all the fruit out of their reach.
I am not shooting for consistently effective, I would be OK with 3/4ths harvested. I probably lost half last year, and some things I lost nearly all of. I confess what really irks me is the newer varieties I have only a couple fruits on and they get all of those. Maybe some spot zappers attached to those fruits is the ticket
Deer are hunted hard here in rural central MN. They still do damage to some of my fruit and ornamental plantings. I’m okay with that…but I’m pretty much a deer nut.
I know some suburban communities are forming relationships with bow hunting groups. Bow hunters are vetted and required to harvest female deer before being allowed to shoot bucks. Most all of what I’ve heard about these relationships is positive. Much of the meat ends up being donated to food pantries, so that is just another benefit.
I had a relative living in a well-to-do area who installed some sort of electric bulb in flower beds where the deer was supposed to touch it with its nose and then stay a certain number of feet from it. It was working well at first, anyway. I haven’t heard mention of it lately. The last visit there (different house now) they were complaining about all the deer, so maybe it was not effective over the long run.
I believe that if you are suffering fiscal damage your are legally entitled to a nuisance tag. Game warden might not be thrilled, but he can only put conditions on the tag, not deny it’s issuance.
