Is this deer damage?

Deer can be random in their nibbling, they don’t always go for tips only. I have had nibbles here and there this spring, there doesn’t seem to be much logic in what they are eating. So far no major feeding so thats a relief. It looks the same for you; do watch out as the one deer you are getting there could be a herd next time. I have had a single night of damage so bad on young trees/grafts that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. The motion detector sprinklers are the best deterrent if you can’t fence it in; in the short term pig’s blood (Plantskydd) will do the trick.

I’m always looking for deer hove prints. If there was a deer you should see the sunken hove prints in your compost. They usually will leave poop that looks like giant rabbit dew too.

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Hooved rats.

Sure fire way to tell if it was deer or not.

I have deer constantly in my orchard. Your pic looks like deer damage. I have cameras that catch them all the time grazing my trees.


I have trail cams up too, and it gets awful busy over by my apples in Sept & Oct. But I will say that if it’s been dry for a spell even the heavy deer won’t leave much of an imprint on ground that’s like concrete and covered with brome or orchard grass. There is always ample evidence of droppings however…



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I didn’t see any of either- maybe it was a quick pass through.

I still haven’t seen any of these.

Would the deer eat the tiny fruits too? I still see some on the areas with no leaves.

I hope that doesn’t happen- to mine. Sounds horrible.

I could actually fence part of the yard off- not to make it impregnable, but to discourage deer. There is a 6’ fence around part of the yard that they may be able to go over if sufficiently motivated. Also, I don’t think they would want to go down a long deck staircase, but it is probably possible. But additional fencing would be a bit inconvenient for me as well, so I’m hoping this was a one time thing. The water cannon may actually be less intrusive, though I’m sure I’d get myself at some point.

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I bit the bullet and fenced my small orchard in this past weekend. I have 16 trees and the spacing is probably a little too tight. I used t-posts and 17 gauge aluminum wire. 5 strands with top strand about 5’ 7 " from the ground. I know deer can technically leap over that but I doubt they will try it with plenty of other vegetation around. I didn’t purchase the charger as I am hoping the passive fence will be suffient. If I find the need for electric I’ll buy a charger and electrify the fence.

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Wonder if these would-be effective http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005KNVH18?vs=1 I suspect the deer would be looking for other apple tree leaves to eat.

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