Outdoor pests DEER

The biggest problem with deer is that they eat POUNDS of vegetation every day, and they like to try new things to eat, especially fawns.  One thing I have used to keep deer away from my plants and I know others that have too is a fishing line fence. The deer don’t see the fishing line and it spooks them. This fence is cheap, easy and is great if you don’t like the look of a fence or don’t want to block any sun light on your plants. This won’t work if you have very high numbers of deer and they are near starving of course.  I do know someone that used it and the deer did break the line a few times, but apparently that still spooked them, the veggies were not eaten. He just put up new line and the garden made it through the summer.
I have heard if you spread garlic powder or use milogranite deer won’t come around. However, I know that deer get spooked when there is something new in their environment, which is why it seems so many products work at first.  For exapmle, I freaked out deer with a wheel barrel for two days this summer, I put it under my apple tree in the garden and they snorted at it for ½ an hour each evening before leaving. Two days later they were eating in the garden again, not next to the wheel barrow but they were in the garden.

Something else I hear works is if you have motion sensor sprinklers; this will spook the deer repeatedly and may work all growing season. Get a sprinkler with the longest spray stream and longest sensor range. Another idea is to provide other forms of food, I know deer eat yarrow flowers so I don’t pick (weed) yarrow, I leave it for them to eat instead of my other flowers. This year with lots of apples on my apple tree the deer are not eating the bee balm or other plants that don’t have a fence, but they still are nipping the yarrow flowers

Deer like most people are creatures of habit, so if you start to deter them early you will have better luck, but once they get a taste for your garden and they like it, they will be back. Dogs, or cats can scare off deer, and of course an electric fence will work great too, a couple shocks and the deer will be conditioned to stay the hell away. Just be careful.

Good growing,
Dr. E.R. Myers