Two bucks

tomf · Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:17 am

We have two bucks hanging around the house and a few does as well, you do not see as many bucks as does. The are neat to look at but I wish they would not eat some of the things I plant.

hendi_alex · Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:32 am

They are the worst pest in my yard and garden. The lab seems to pay them absolutely no attention. This year, so far, they have stripped my plum trees and have half eaten a cucumber bush.

KeyWee · Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:15 am

Sounds dumb, I know ~ but have you tried the rubber snakes from the toy department at Walmart? For $1.00, they worked on my blueberries. Drape a snake or two in the affected tree or shrub. Of course, I startle myself sometimes, but it's worth it because it worked.
Next to try, (gross, I know) human urine. My old-timey gardener buddies swear by it. Ya do what ya gotta do.

feldon30 · Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:24 am

Have you tried Liquid Fence?

Lindsaylew82 · Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:32 am

That stuff is gag worthy and absolutely RANK! My dad planted a whole bunch of azaleas along the wood line and the deer were just tearing them apart! Anyway, he got some of that and had me spray it. Oh GOD it's AWEFUL! What's worst of all, it got on my hands and the smell persisted for the entire day.(and some of the next!) It produced wave after wave of nausea and gagging...so bad...I'm a sissy for foul smells though.

It didn't work for us either.

He ordered a product called Deer Stopper next, because I refused to have any part in spraying the other. It worked OK, but had to be reapplied pretty frequently.

tomf · Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:44 am

I tried Liquid Fence it maybe worked for a week or two maybe not. I know someone that uses eggs and cyan pepper mixed with water as a spray, he says it works.

applestar · Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:18 am

I was reading this thread, and thinking that most of the time, fencing is the only way to really keep them out, and electric fence is even better...

Then was picturing ever expanding areas to be fenced to protect from the deer until eventually, your entire property is surrounded by heavy duty electric fence high enough to keep deer out... With the deer (and other animals) congregating and milling around outside....

And suddenly had a vision of our last visit to the zoo, with us congregating and milling outside the animal habitat.... "Mama, are those humans dangerous? is that why they are kept inside an electric fence enclosure?"

tomf · Fri Jun 20, 2014 8:02 pm

Yes we are the most dangerous and deadly animals of all.

feldon30 · Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:53 pm

Lindsaylew82 wrote:That stuff is gag worthy and absolutely RANK! My dad planted a whole bunch of azaleas along the wood line and the deer were just tearing them apart! Anyway, he got some of that and had me spray it. Oh GOD it's AWEFUL! What's worst of all, it got on my hands and the smell persisted for the entire day.(and some of the next!) It produced wave after wave of nausea and gagging...so bad...I'm a sissy for foul smells though.

It says right on the bottle: 82% putrescent egg solids. I knew what I was getting into before I opened the bottle and was VERY careful not to get any on me.

Lindsaylew82 · Sat Jun 21, 2014 11:18 pm

Gahhhhhh....just recalling the memory makes me feel all green in the face! Smelled like death!

Did it work well for you?

I came home to my husband that night and got asked to move to the couch!

Told my dad that and he laughed until he had tears in his eyes.......but it was NOT funny.

tomf · Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:26 am

I have what is called invisible deer fence around my vegetable garden, it is 7 feet tall, but as the deer cannot tell how high it is they do not jump it. The fence blends into its surroundings reasonably well so it is not such a visual distraction to look at. I put a rabbit fence at the bottom of it as I found the rabbits just chew through the deer fence. I put some bitter herbs near other plants not protected by fence that I do not want them to eat and this mostly works.

tomf · Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:37 am

People ask me if they can come and shoot the deer. Or why don't I kill and eat them, I do not want to kill anything and I don't like deer meat anyways.

feldon30 · Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:17 am

Lindsaylew82 wrote:Gahhhhhh....just recalling the memory makes me feel all green in the face! Smelled like death!

Did it work well for you?

I came home to my husband that night and got asked to move to the couch!

Told my dad that and he laughed until he had tears in his eyes.......but it was NOT funny.

Well, it's a funny story now, but I know it wasn't funny when it was happening.

As for whether it has been successful? It's hard to know. Deer and rabbits have been spotted in the area, but we haven't had a single leaf nibbled, so maybe it's the Liquid Fence and maybe it's just too much human activity around the raised beds.