Deer Fencing

[DocHeb]

We tried Irish spring soap trick, and hung the soap from old nylons directly from the base of the rose bushes. Also tried human hair from the beauty shop. The deer still came nightly and ate the rose buds just as they were about to bloom. I personally feel this is an old-wives tale that gets quoted and perpetuated without basis in fact.

 

[DocHeb]

I like the peanut butter trick - will really get their attention.

I've watched deer do a standing highjump over a 5 foot high fence in my back yard (suburban Detroit) without even having to get a running start. I've collected several web sites that sell deer fencing and deer control products/ideas. Some of this fencing is black so it doesn't stand out.

Benner's Gardens Inc.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.kfence.com/gamefence.html>K Fence</A>
DeerBusters.com

I think you may be able to use shorter fence for the smaller varmits, and then use single high tension wire for the higher barriers to prevent jumping.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You may want to have something hanging from the single strands if you go that root so that the deer can see it otherwise they may not see the wire and try to jump over the lower fence and get hung up in the top stands which is not a pretty site. Usually little pieces of ribbon or something that can move with the wind that will draw their attention to it.

 

[butzkeg]

One of the best things we've done for keeping deer and other critters out of the garden is a radio. Get the radio a foot or so off the ground, and cover it to keep the water off of it. Run the radio 24 hrs a day, and the animals usually stay away. Cost is minimal to run a radio that much too. Alot less work than installing an 8' fence as well.

Dogs, hair, soap, etc. has never worked for me.

 

[Bird]

I hadn't thought about a radio for deer, but I have a neighbor who leaves a radio going in his 3-sided workshop to keep the owls from roosting in there./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[billboe]

Wonder if a radio would work for raccoons???

 

[mdbarb]

NOTHING works on racoons. They would probably just tune it to their favorite channel and invite all their friends over .

 

[MarkV]

Mbarb,

I think you are right about the raccoons or at least the ones that live in the San Fran area. I lived near Golden Gate park for a couple of years and the coons would cruise the neighborhood at night looking for garbage cans. I swear these guys must have carried lock picks./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif People would try everything and the coons still figured out ways to get into the cans. I once saw two of them working as a team, one climbing the others back to get up on an elevated platform where the cans were stored. Definitely intelligent animals.

MarkV

 

[rmorgan]

BX:

The radio idea actually works surprisingly well--voices more than music. Downsides are you have to leave a radio outside all season and it can be weird to hear people talking in your yard all the time; and if it goes off, the deer are back pronto. Soap, dog hair, sprays, herbs---tried 'em; don't bother, IMHO. 5' fence, as all have said: Deer LOL. Unless I missed it, nobody mentioned baited electric fence, which works exceedingly well so long as you can tolerate having it, and is inexpensive. There also is a high, relatively-invisible plastic mesh available which is expensive for large areas but not too terrible for just a garden. Here's a link to their site, but their internal links aren't working as of this morning. http://www.wirelessdeerfence.com/wdf/index.htm

 

[Thomas]

Lot of good ideas so far and maybe we shall try growing another garden again,but I do have bears & boars and moose around the house..and what the bears & boars don't eat the moose will and stomp the rest.

 

[IndianaPaul]

Another idea, though it did make me chuckle when a good friend down the road shared with me.

His wife purchased several of the door/porch ornaments that play music/talk when you walk by them at Walmart on Clearance 2 years ago (apparently they have a motion sensor in them). She tied them to stakes about 2.5 - 3 foot off the ground. When the deer walk past, they begin playing and the deer take off. He said once she figured out the range of the sensor it only took her about 30 minutes to set it all up.

Paul

 

[mdbarb]

We used to have our garbage can outside with a bungee cord holding it closed tightly. One day as I approached the can it began moving!
I considered:
A. The garbage can is actually alive and attempting to escape!
B. I should start drinking gin from smaller containers.
C. Those hallucinations continue long after the sixties.
D. All of the above
Obviously the racoon got in but couldn't get out. I now store the can in the garage and get strange looks from friends when they see me sneaking up sideways on the garbage can.

 

[Timd]

We had a real bad ice storm 5 or 6 years ago and everybody
in Northern New England lost power for weeks. The icicles
off the roof ran all the way to the ground. When they finally
melted and fell they ripped the eaves trim right off the house.
I was too busy running fireplaces 7x24 to worry about
carpentry.

Meanwhile a family of racoons moved into our house through
the trim opening and took up residence between the 1st floor
ceiling and second floor floorboards. We had no clue until
we heard these scuttling noises late at night. I looked out
to investigate and saw mother racoon scurrying across the
porch roof. We tried everything to get them out but it took
about a month. I finally replaced all the trim except one
tiny piece. I guess the carpentry noise spooked them out
and I closed the rest up after we hadn't heard anything
for a few days.

Timd