White Tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer and black-tailed deer populations found in suburban and urban areas across America have increased dramatically since the 1960s. As deer begin to become plentiful, homeowners initially enjoy seeing them and may actually encourage deer to come into their yard by feeding them. Traditionally rural townships becoming suburban may ban hunting or place restrictions on firearm use for safety reasons. Bambi begins to settle in and lose his or her sense of fear for humans.

Black Tailed Deer

I once heard some preliminary research results that said that deer in suburban areas have more fawns per doe that they do in the wilder areas. More of these fawns live to reproductive age and then, they too have more twins and triplets than their forest cousins. About the only things that kill them are old age or cars and trucks. There are no predators anymore for them to fear.

Homeowner attitudes change, however, when landscape plants suffer heavy browsing damage and gardens become difficult to grow. In addition to browsing, damage may occur in the fall when bucks begin rubbing antlers on small trees or young nursery stock.

Twins are more common in suburban areas.

Controlling deer damage in the home landscape is not easy. Of course books have been (and will be) written about ways to prevent deer damage, but there are basically six methods for trying to minimize the damage:

1) Exclusion by deer-proof fence
2) Scare or frightening tactics
3) Habitat modification
4) Hunting
5) Repellents
6) Alternative (non-palatable) plantings

Exclusion - Physically excluding pests such as deer from our landscapes, gardens, orchards, etc. is the most effective way to prevent damage. Unfortunately, it also the most expensive and often, least compatible approach for homeowners.

Nice fence but not tall enough to deter a hungry deer!

A deer-proof fence does not fit well with most home landscapes and can be very expensive if large areas are to be protected. For small vegetable gardens, a deer-proof fence may be constructed using standard wire fence attached up 12-foot tall posts but this would not look so good around your ornamental landscape.

Electric fences are less expensive and can be just as effective, however, they do require regular maintenance. For best results they should be constructed before serious damage occurs and must be kept electrified at all times. Researchers have had success using a three-wire electric fence adorned with aluminum foil strips attached at 5-10 foot intervals. The ends of the strips are smeared with peanut butter for “bait.” When the deer lick the bait, they get a “tickle” that warns them of the fence. Also, it is best if the wires are staggered away from each other and not in a single plane. Deer may learn to jump electric fences if they are incorrectly installed or maintenance is lacking.

Scare Tactics- Frightening deer usually only works for short periods of time before they

Deer damage on Yew

adapt to the specific tactic. Loud music, water sprayers or lights attached to motion detectors may provide temporary. However, the location of these items will need to be moved every week or so because the deer will quickly learn their location and avoid them.

Longer term success has been reported by people who install the so-called “invisible dog fence” around the entire perimeter of their property. Once the dog is trained to stay inside this area, it may be left outside at night to scare off deer.

Habitat Modification – This approach is expensive and may actually attract deer if misapplied. A professional wildlife biologist should be consulted if this is the desired course of action.

Hunting – Population reduction by sport hunting is the most cost effective, long-term solution and should be seriously considered if damage is wide spread. However, hunting is now prohibited in most suburban or urban areas due to safety issues in populated neighborhoods. Be sure to check with local units of government for specific regulations. My township has authorized specific bow hunters to kill deer in parks and public areas. The meat is donated to the local food pantry.

Repellents- This is the method that is most commonly used by homeowners. Repellents discourage deer from feeding by making the plants either taste or smell bad. The key

Repellants work IF applied frequently.

factor with any repellent is that it MUST BE ON THE PLANT AT ALL TIMES to be effective. When the deer bends over to sniff at the plant, it must smell bad or if it sticks its tongue out for a taste, it must be very unappealing. All repellents have a tendency to wear off over time. Eventually, the deer can tolerate the diluted smell or taste and will start to graze. The challenge for the homeowner is to keep the repellent material fresh and pungent on the plant. That can be tough but, if you do it, you will have success.

Alternate Plantings – Although their feeding habits may change seasonally, deer choose plants based on nutritional needs, palatability, and past experience. Damage to landscape ornamental plants may occur at any time of the year. When deer numbers are high or food availability is low, damage may occur on plants that they would normally not touch. Deer may exhibit localized taste preferences so what they eat may vary somewhat from site to site.

Hostas or Celery stalks? Deer have been here.

Research has documented that deer may eat as many as 100 different species of plants in a given locale. However, they do tend to avoid certain species and this knowledge can be helpful in choosing plants for sites where deer area major problem. Check with your local Extension office to see if they have a list of plants that are or are not generally eaten by deer.

Well, those are just a few ideas and factors to consider when dealing with deer in the landscape. Of course, there is no “one size fits all” solution but these are the major alternatives.

As always, if you have landscape gardening questions or have a topic you would like to see covered, please let me know. Also, I have recently published a couple of eBooks that you might want to check out. The titles are, “A Rookie’s Guide to Designing Beds and Borders” and “A Rookie’s Guide to Implementing Beds and Borders“. I am currently working on the next eBook, “A Rookie’s Guide to Hostas, Hostas, Hostas” which should be ready by the end of November, 2012. Also, “A Rookie’s Guide to Maintaining Beds and Borders” is in the works for February of 2013.