How to Get Rid of Deer |
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I. General Information about Deer
Deer are edge species, which means they pass much of their time along the border of forests and tree stands. There are two chief reasons for this. First, deer like to consume the young, supple shoots and sprouts that are seen at the perimeter of forests. When the land on which the larger, older trees had once grown is cleared, younger trees are able to grab some light and sprout up. These new outgrowths give abundant nourishment for the darling little deer.
The second reason is safety. When the deer are munching away on baby aspen, balsam or your ornamental plants and shrubs, they can make a quick escape into the dense woods if danger arrives. Clearly, a yard surrounded by trees is a convenient place for a deer to be in, since there is food within reach and cover nearby.
II. Deer as Pests?
Deer numbers have increased. Humans have razed the land so thoroughly and have created so much more edge that deer can’t help but to go forth and multiply. More edge means more food, which means more fat Bambi fawns to feed.
Don’t forget about the declining number of natural predators for deer. While making room for themselves, humanity also jostled aside wolves, coyotes and mountain lions – the deer’s natural population controllers. Because so many habitats have been lost, deer numbers have accumulated.
Below are some ideas for not just getting rid of deer, but also softening their pest-like impact and learning to live with them. These tips will work for an assortment of deer species including the white-tailed deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer and elk.
III. Prevention through Landscaping
* Plant things deer don’t particularly like: There is plenty of attractive flora that deer tend to steer clear from, including Allegheny spurge, poppies, lily-of-the-valley, wormwood, carnations, lamb’s ears, forget-me-nots, ferns, alyssum, foxgloves, lavender, daffodils and black eyed susans.
* Don’t over-fertilize: If the deer are eating your grass and not your shrubs, you’re probably over fertilizing. Over-fertilized grass is big, plump and juicy; it makes the deer want to come back for seconds.
* Create a diversion: Pick some plants that are favorites of deer and plant them away from the plants you don’t want them to eat. The idea is that the deer will just stay where the more delectable plants are. Try using dogwood, crabapple, viburnum, pyracanthus, burning bush, burberry or white cedar.
IV. Damage Prevention
* Put up a fence: You can’t just use any fence, though, since deer are jumping machines, and they can easily hurdle short fences. An 8-10ft high monster fence with at least one foot buried underground can surely do the trick.
Then again, if the idea of the Berlin Wall in your backyard doesn’t appeal to you, you can also try using an electric fence baited with peanut butter. Just remember not to put peanut butter on the fence while the electricity is turned on.
A little zap teaches deer a quick lesson. Be careful, though, so that your dogs, cats and children won’t get accidentally electrified.
* Place tubes around the base of trees: This defends the little trees from getting munched on. Also, in autumn, deer try to shed their antlers, and they rub them energetically against tree trunks. While this works well for the deer when working those antlers loose, it wreaks havoc on tree bark and can lead to stunted growth or even tree death. The tubes stand guard when antler-rubbing season comes along. Many commercial tree protectors are available, or you can simply make your own by slicing some corrugated drain pipe lengthwise and wrapping it around the tree trunk.
* Protect plants with row covers: There are several kinds of row covers. Some are lightweight enough to just be draped over your plants, while others are configured to be suspended by hoops or stakes.
All designs help to keep deer and other pests from devouring your gardens and plants. They have the added advantage of offering some protection against frost (usually just a couple degrees), and maintaining a little extra moisture for the plants’ use.
* Erect small cages around vulnerable plants, shrubs and bushes: By using small cages, either commercially purchased or do-it-yourself with stakes, fencing or chicken wire, the deer will never even know what they’re missing.
If they’ve already eaten your plants a bit and you’re providing protection after the fact, make sure to secure the cage to the ground around the plant with some long tent stakes. Otherwise, the deer will just toss it aside when they come back.
* Don’t feed other animals: What works for the zoo works for you as well. Deer love handouts. They are quite often found grazing seed from underneath bird feeders. They’ve even been known to grab a bird feeder with their mouth and tilt it so all that tasty sunflower seed spills to the ground for them to eat.
* Go Hunting: As long as you’re not Elmer Fudd and have a decent shot, that’s the best way to make sure the deer won’t be coming back. Just make sure deer is in season and hunting is legal where you are. If you’re not sure, talk to the local game warden.
V. Natural Control of Deer
* Egg spray: Make a spray of 20% whole egg and 80% water. Before mixing in the egg, remove the white membrane around the yolk to avoid clogging the sprayer. Reapply every thirty days or after a rain. Deer associate the smell of rot and decay with the presence of predators.
* Release the hounds! Got a pooch? Feeling a bit like Montgomery Burns? Put it outside and let it stand guard against those deer. Make sure to keep the dog on a chain or lead, though. You don’t want Fido chasing the deer into the woods and getting lost. The chain also keeps the dog from getting too close to the deer and getting kicked.
* Pigs: It’s been suggested that fencing a few porkers around the garden will keep deer out. Why? The same reason they don’t frolic around humans: deer are shy around other animals. If you can take the smell (and deer can’t), get a pig.
* Hang mesh bags filled with deterrents: Use human hair, feather meal, blood meal, or tankage (residue from tanks where animal carcasses have been steamed and the fat rendered). To repeat, deer associate the smell of rot and decay with predators. Hang the bags around trouble spots. Soap, mothballs and creosote are said to work, too.
* Scare devices: The Scarecrow (Scare-Deer?) method is a motion-sensing sprinkler and is a great way to get rid of deer. The deer can’t possibly get hurt, plus surrounding plants and grass get extra water and other critters such as squirrels, raccoons, dogs and cats are also repelled.
VI. Deer Repellents
There are three main types of deer repellents: area repellents, contact repellents and electronic repellents. Below you will find several examples of each and a short explanation on how to use each type. The most important thing to remember when trying to repel deer is to switch things up on a regular basis.
Deer quickly become used to and undeterred by the same old repellent. Some people switch back and forth with a couple different products every few weeks and other folks use a constant rotation of three or more.
* Area Deer Repellents: Area repellents come in liquid, powder or granular form. They are applied around problem areas and repel deer with the use of foul odors. A deer’s sense of smell is far more sensitive than a human’s, so something that smells slightly bad to us could smell absolutely putrid to a deer.
Examples are Deer Scram, Shake Away, Liquid Fence, Milorganite Fertilizer (though it may not be sold as an area repellent) and predator urine from coyotes, mountain lions or bobcats.
* Contact Deer Repellents: Contact repellents are generally liquid, applied by spraying directly onto the plants. They taste and smell terrible to deer. Examples are Deer Away, Scoot Deer, Miller’s Hot Sauce, Deer Off, Hinder and predator urine.
* Electronic Deer Repellents: Electronic repellents are attached to an object such as a stake or tree in the problem areas and generally work by irritating, scaring or startling the deer.
YardGard Electronic Deer Repeller and DeerGard Silent Deer Repeller both emit sonic and ultrasonic sound; they are motion activated or can be set to run continuously. Deer Chaser is a motion sensitive device that uses a very bright LED light and an FM radio to scare deer away.
