Deer remedy

Loafy · Oct 15, 2002

There is no cheap way to keep deer out of anything for a long period of time. If it is good to eat they will be back time and time again. Strange smells might work for a day or two but as soon as they realize there is nothing there to harm them they will be back. High, solid fencing with the bottom burried a few inches is the only sure way to keep them out.

arkydog · Oct 15, 2002

I agree with Scott in WVA. We hung bars of Irish spring in the new trees we planted last year by drilling a hole in the middle of the bar and tying it to a branch. Wife also put it in her flower garden. Deer will come to the feeder, but won"t touch the plants.

arkydog

Scott_in_WVA · Oct 15, 2002

Loafy,
Have you tried it???This friend of mine seems to be convinced it works...Don't knock it until you try it....then come back and tell me it does not work...../w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

northcreek2624 · Oct 15, 2002

<font color=red>"take Irish Spring soap and carve shavings off of it and put it around there plants and it keeps the deer out."</font color=red>

That was my favorite shower soap when I was single,Now I know why I had such a hard time getting a date.......Mike

Scott_in_WVA · Oct 16, 2002

You had the same problem as I did./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

AMP762 · Oct 17, 2002

hot sauce sprayed on plants works as well as anything i've found,but nothing is perfect

Richard · Oct 18, 2002

Found a new remedy last night, though not sure if I recommend it very highly.. ($$$)

Wife driving home from work, was 1/4 mile from the house when "Jane Doe" decided to bolt across the road to sniff the front fender of my wifes car. Problem was... car was travelling at 40 mph.

Wife, emotinoally shook up, but ok
Headlight? smashed to smithereens all over road
Front driver's side fender? decent sized dent
Jane Doe? Pulled her off the road and put her down the hill some, may she rest in peace. Was glad we didnt' need to euthanize her as wife was in car (we both went back) and I dont' think she would have enjoyed seeing me finish the job.

sigh...

Loafy · Oct 18, 2002

I HAVE tried the soap trick....

Have had a garden here in south Gerogia for the last 15 years and it is a never ending battle with the deer.
Have used soap, cleaners, gas, hair, flashing lights, a dog on a chain, and electric fencing and regular fencing.

One way or another the deer would always get our peas. The thing that worked of for a few weeks was a fence that was 9 feet tall. We sank poles in the ground and stacked 2 layers of regular feild fence on it. Then built a "T" shape on top so they could not get over it.

Worked good for a few days then all of a sudden there were nipped off pea plants and deer tracks again! Put some camo on an watched the next afternoon. A doe came up to the fence and kinda looked real hard at it for a few minutes then ran and jumped broad side at it a few times. I thought she was nuts but on the 5th jump there was enough gap between the 2 layers of fence fro her to fall through. She then preceeded to eat some more peas... I left her alone cause I thought she diserved them!

Went in the next day and laced the two pieces of fence together with wire and no more deer trouble.

Was not cheap but I dont have any problem any more.... untill they find a pair of wire cutters!

DUMBDOG · Oct 18, 2002

Put a garden down at the farm this year for the first time, put up 5 ft fence all around without any problems at all. Lots of deer around, but maybe they have enough to eat without my garden, Either that or I did not plant any peas. The potatoes and onions were outside the fence, a few potatoe tops were eaten but that was it.

Will have to fence my new fruit tees in before winter, because they did like to nible on them quite a bit this summer.

chim · Oct 22, 2002

Mopar makes an effective, albeit somewhat expensive, control method.......................chim

DaleW · Oct 22, 2002

Tracy,
I had a similar problem with the deer eating my shrubs. Went my local farm store and got a bottle of fox urine and took some old pill bottles and drilled 4 or 5 holes around the top, put cotton in and then put in about 1/4 ounce of the fox urine in each and hung them on the shrubs. Deer haven't touched the shrubs since.
You may have to refresh the urine every 4 to 6 weeks but it sure did the trick for me.

good luck
dale

Hoosier_Daddy · Oct 22, 2002

We used a double flood light motion detector with a flood in one side and an old radio in a plastic bag plugged into the other side to keep the critters out of the garden. Set the detector on test so it would come on and off quickly. Of course when the wind blows you get a blast of radio. They seem to like Country Music so pick another genre.

However, about 4 years ago we started planting Habenero pepper plants. If they survive getting eaten as young plants we pick the peppers in the fall, dry them and then grind them up in the blender. Then we put them in an old Parmasean cheese shaker and sprinkle on the garden and other plants the following year. Haven't had a problem the past few years with rabbits or deer.

Of course, it seems like it doesn't take but a moment for the little darlings to clean you out.....

We had more problems getting rid of a Turkey last year that decided to roost on the upper deck railing every night. If the wind was out of the West he crapped all over the deck. If out of the East he hit the flower bed below. However the prevailing wind is out of the West. This thing wasn't afraid of anything except our final resolve. Chased him in the golf cart with a super soaker.

Some folks might think having a Turkey is kind of neat but they have to remember they gobble alot at the first light. I could handle roosters as a kid but this turkey got a little anoying after awhile..

northcreek2624 · Oct 23, 2002

Chim,I'll never complain about bugs on the windshield again.
Hope everyone made it out of there ok,obviously the deer didn't....Mike

chim · Oct 23, 2002

My #2 Son sent me a series of 5 or 6 pics from different angles. One of them may have caused a non-hunter / non-butcher viewer some mental anguish.

Don't know where they originated, but most pics have that same guy in them. It looks like he may have a white rag wrapped around his one hand. I was assuming he was the driver...................chim

k3010dt · Oct 24, 2002

Extension service research found that deer baits don't work. Extension offices in the Kentuky, WV, Ohio region recommend electric fence as the only cost effect way to keep deer out of gardens. Use peanut butter to teach them to respect the wire. I have used only one wire set at 3 ft for the last three years and have had no deer damage. Three ft is about where deer browse. I leave the fence on all year round to teach the deer to avoid the garden area.

LazyJ_Arabians · Oct 24, 2002

Propane cannon on a timer. Costs a little over $500. I went in halves with my neighbor on one four years ago. We set it up on the property line and plant our pea patches on either side. Works wonderfully but requires understanding neighbors and it takes my horses several days to get used to it every year when we set it up. We only operate it about two months of the year but the deer do stay out.

I wish someone would make one triggered from a motion detector. Seems it would make an excellent burglar deterrent.

rps · Oct 24, 2002

Here is the address of a website that specializes in wildlife damage management. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://deal.unl.edu/icwdm/handbook/handbook/allPDF/mam_d25.pdf>http://deal.unl.edu/icwdm/handbook/handbook/allPDF/mam_d25.pdf</A>
It has specifics about some of the suggestions others have already made plus some additional ideas. This page is a chapter out of the book that is the most reputable resource for wildlife damage management. There are a lot of factors that determine if a deer control program will work in a paticular location, and this book will get you going in the right direction.

I hope it is helpful.

Robert