Deer eating my plants

[pumpkin cuddler]

Please help.

It seems I have deer eating my plants in the garden.
As wonderful as the deer are, does anyone know of a friendly way of deterring them. Possibly other than a huge fence.

[mapcr77]

I thought human hair would keep them away, maybe another grape can correct me if i'm wrong...

[terrier]

I've seen bars of soap hung around one garden, evidently the deer don't like the smell.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Alice is your gal, here - I'm sure she'll be along later to give you advice.

I suspect that she's not going to have good news for you, tho'......

[jacob marley]

Venison steaks send e'm my way luver'ley jacob

[Alice]

Hello Pumpkin Cuddler. You have my sympathy. Yes, they are gorgeous but there is practically nothing they don't eat, and what they don't eat they trample on or bark with their lovely little horns. I had them in my garden and they could do hundreds of pounds of damage in a night or day. They wandered about in daylight and were not the least afraid of my presence.
The bad news is none of the remedies involving what they are said not to like work. They habituate to everything, including humans chasing them.
The good news is you can fence them out. It's time, work and money but it can be done. I have an acre of ground to protect so I know about it.
The bandits can jump 8 feet but they won't do it if they don't have to. They will jump 8 feet to get out but not to get in. Also they are not like bullocks and won't push the fences so they don't have to be all that strong.
Posts and chicken wire will keep them out. Look round your garden and see where they are coming in and start there. You will have to do it all as once they find their favourite route blocked they will find another way but it will give you time to get the work done.
If you have hedges and trees round your garden just put the chicken wire along the back of them so that they won't come through between. It doesn't have to be too high at these points as they don't jump if they can't see what the whole situation is. Their eyesight doesn't seem to be too good. If there are areas where they have a clear line of sight and they can take a clean jump at it then you will need to make it 6 feet at least to keep them out.
Fencing really is the only way. Even if you shoot them it is only temporary as others just move in to take their place. Sorry if it's bad news for you. I do know the heartache of the destruction they do. Well, now you know what you want for Christmas. Good luck and lets know how you get on. See if you can get some pics so that we can admire them from afar.

[Madasafish]

Take 50 kilos of tiger dung, spread along fence

Or human urine

or fox dung (but it STINKS)

[Alice]

I can tell you that fox dung and human urine did nothing to keep them out of my garden.

[greenlung]

My elderly parents often have deer in the garden, which they wouldn't mind if they didn't destroy a lot of plants and leave potentially fatal ticks, capable of spreading Lyme's Disease.(A five minute sit in the garden can result in several nasty burrowing ticks)
Last I heard, they'd bought several contraptions with a pheromone on a stick, which attracts the deer for a sniff, then gives them a gentle - but startling - electric shock.
Unfortunately, I don't think anything will be as effective as a high fence.

[David P]

I've just been to see someone who has a similar problem. They have an acre with holes in hedges, no fences, brambles everywhere and a veggie patch - a deer delight!

The only real way of getting rid of them is to shoot them - reduce their numbers. Not to everyone's taste but practical, efficient and if you treat them like any other crop, meat for the table.

D

[Paul Wagland]

The only real way of getting rid of them is to shoot them - reduce their numbers. Not to everyone's taste but practical, efficient and if you treat them like any other crop, meat for the table.

It's certainly practical, if you have a shotgun license... is it easy to get one? I thought you had to be either a farmer or a member of a shooting club? Would be interesting to find out about this.

On the subject of fencing, I wonder if running taught strands of wire (or even something like washing line) around your plot would be cheaper than chicken wire? Maybe 6 horizontal lines at 30cm spacings? Would that put them off do you think Alice? Just a thought as chicken wire is such a ridiculous price.

Otherwise, how about getting a big dog?! A deerhound would do the trick I imagine... You'd probably have to keep it outside though, not to mention hungry!

[Alice]

Shooting them isn't the solution Pumpkin Cuddler. It gets rid of the ones you have but as long as there is an ecological niche, others will move in. So you get rid of that pair, and hello to the next pair - and their bambies. At one point I had 1 buck, 2 does and 3 bambies marauding my garden. They were frightened and deterred by nothing ! Fencing them out was the only thing that worked. Good luck.

[mattandflyte]

It's certainly practical, if you have a shotgun license... is it easy to get one? I thought you had to be either a farmer or a member of a shooting club? Would be interesting to find out about this.

hi there

to get a "shotgun" is very easy,

it is everybody's right to own a shot gun and the police have to prove that you can not own one

the reasons to get regected is past history off gun crime, mentle ilness and extream deppression

there are a few other reasons but no everyone is entitled to apply

regards

matt