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I once worked for a conservation agency that planted a lot of native shrub borders along restored riparian zones. They'd set up temporary electric fencing to discourage deer and give the shrubs a chance to establish themselves. We smeared peanut butter on the fencing tape before turning on the current. One sniff with a wet nose or lick with their tongue was more than enough to teach those deer a lesson.
A standard defense around here is to tie a fresh bar of Irish Spring soap to any plant you want to protect. I've personally used it on one bush that they like the fruit from, and it worked so that I could harvest the fruit.
Asking for a neighbor (seriously). Poor guy has been trying for 2 months now to keep the deer out. His is the only place that doesn't have a fence on all sides, only on one, which the does jump to get to their young 'uns. The babies are well hidden in a thick copse of Juniper trees there and the Moms keep them there during the day for safety. They are eating every plant and tree on his property.
He has tried just about everything, next step is shooting them (not guns, illegal, but crossbow) but he really doesn't want to.
Ideas?
Yeah, I'll take all he's got off his hands. My property has 50 years of overgrowth, and I could certainly use some "plant/tree abatement." (Defensible fire space/fuel ya know...)
Suppose the deer would like olive trees? I got millions of those little black olives all over the ground. I can promise "no snow," daily water, lots of cover for the little one's. Zero hunter pressure, but not 100% sure about Dave next door.
If you got elk/antelope, I can take those too. (No bears, as they recreate in the hot tub.)
Thanks all...We're in N AZ. He's tried electric fencing, raised the fence he does have to almost 7 ft.... Etc...The deer are amazing to watch jump, I'm giving the poor guy a daily ribbing about them. His latest idea is to buy a used stock trailer (18'), park it in his yard and lure them in in...then take them 30 mi north to drop off......
If you want a really far-out-there suggestion, then I would suggest Radionics, which has been used in agriculture since at least the 1950's. Not so much for larger animals, but more often for pests in the field, although it is quite often used in the racing/racehorse industry. For some reason horses get along well with this kind of treatment.
Radionics is the use of instruments to 'transmit' a signal to the affected area/being and which has an effect on the problem environment bringing it into harmony and balance. If you want to read up on the use of Radionics in agriculture, these are 3 links which might help. (There, I told you it was far-out and strange)
What will probably be needed is a photograph of the general area with the affected areas marked out. Maybe want a soil sample too. It is different for different practitioners.
Asking for a neighbor (seriously). Poor guy has been trying for 2 months now to keep the deer out. His is the only place that doesn't have a fence on all sides, only on one, which the does jump to get to their young 'uns. The babies are well hidden in a thick copse of Juniper trees there and the Moms keep them there during the day for safety. They are eating every plant and tree on his property.
He has tried just about everything, next step is shooting them (not guns, illegal, but crossbow) but he really doesn't want to.
Ideas?
If it were me, I'd offer to give him some of the summer sausage I make.
Forgive me if someone mentioned it but I believe the hot-wire is a great suggestion but I've also heard of motion-sensitive devices to scare away deer.
Go to your tool box and find some big washers, then grab some empty cans either soup, or beer cans, empty metal
pie tins or any old metal cookie sheets you can part with. String them all together so they hit one another
create MANY hanging chimes that are noisy, and clank together.
Shoo away the fawns.. their momma will find them in the woods.
Hang your new deer scare device to the underside of the branches...
Too much work? Okay, how about leaving a transistor radio out there
since deer are afraid of auditory sounds.
Last edited by countryswan; 11-03-2020 at 08:27 AM..
I had same prob. Every. single. day. Eating everything. I had a 4' chain link up. Now I have an 8' privacy fence, at least in the back. It has definitely helped. Not too much I can do about the front. A tall fence would be out of the question there. All I know to do there is plant as many things as possible that they don't particularly care for, although, I'm finding that the more I do that, the more they are eating the things they supposedly don't like. They've recently taken huge chunks out of my Dwarf Alberta Spruces... every one of them... like eating brillo and they just recently ate a rose bush I had out there that was nothing but stems and thorns . Spraying deterrent works for 1 or 2 nights, that's it. Irish spring does nothing here.
I'm no longer out rural and I have more here in town than I did in the forest. The city around here does need to cull some out. They are in everyones yard and walking up and down the street all night long (sometimes in the day) and there are a lot of ticks. Our houses butt up against the back of a mountain (and the mountain is still green!) . The only time the deer are a little scarce is when it's coyote mating season and they're all over the place.
I am thinking about trying one of these for out front -
Does that permit include damage to just landscaping or is it limited to crops? Here in Maryland you can get a depredation permit for crops but not landscaping. You also have to own the farmland and not just be renting it.
I goose hunt on a farm where the owner won't let the farmer who leases the fields get a depredation permit because she doesn't want "her" deer hunted. She also won't allow us to hunt deer on it either.
If the lady owns the land, then they ARE "her" deer, aren't they?? Her land, her deer, her call.
Those who hunt deer on presumably posted land like this are called poachers, and are law-breakers. The landowner lets you hunt geese - be happy for that. If you want to hunt deer, get your own land or talk to someone else who will let you hunt on theirs, instead of complaining about someone who is entirely within her rights to request no deer hunting on her property.
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Try this to scare away the deer
