Posted: 5/30/2014 5:00:44 PM EDT
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As if it wasn't a hard time getting the garden planted this year due to all of the rain, the deer have decided to eat the tops of my tomato plants.  That hasn't happened in a long time. 
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Quoted:
So eat the tops of the deer. Fair is fair 
Growing up in WV, they would destroy all the pine trees as the places got more built up, they would come into the "City" parts more and more. Killed gardens and trees. IDK if the DNR will give crop damage permits for gardens.  I usually try to plant stuff that the critters don't like and this is the first time in years that they have eaten tomato plants.
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Deer b Gone might be something to try.
That or a suppressed rifle. 
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1. Mr. Clean w New Zealand Febreeze is a deterrent. I dunno why. Runs off bugs, grasshoppers, flies. Everything hates it. 2. Suppressed 9mm was my final solution to a doe that would simply NOT leave my garden alone last year despite the Febreeze. TRG |
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Quoted:
Irish Spring soap also deters them for some reason. Reminds me that I need to do that again in my garden. This! We put it around all of the perennial gardens that we plant for customers. Cut it up into chunks and place them around the perimeter of the garden. |
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Quoted:
This! We put it around all of the perennial gardens that we plant for customers. Cut it up into chunks and place them around the perimeter of the garden. Quoted:
Quoted:
Irish Spring soap also deters them for some reason. Reminds me that I need to do that again in my garden. This! We put it around all of the perennial gardens that we plant for customers. Cut it up into chunks and place them around the perimeter of the garden. Depends on where you live and how used to people the deer are. Around here, they come right up to houses, are used to the sight and smell of people, cars, etc., and the the old tools like soap, a radio, etc. have no effect at all. |
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A solar electric fence controller from Harbor Freight works wonders. I also bought electric fence wire (plastic with a fine steel wire intertwined and some fiberglass poles at Tractor supply. To fence a 20x30 ft. garden was less than $200. I had to replace the controller after three years.
This is not like what we had when I was a child: stiff wire, nailed to wooden fence posts with insulators. The fiberglass poles have a plastic peg to step on to push them into the ground and plastic clips for the wire which is more like a coil of heavy twine. |
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Quoted:
1. Mr. Clean w New Zealand Febreeze is a deterrent. I dunno why. Runs off bugs, grasshoppers, flies. Everything hates it. 2. Suppressed 9mm was my final solution to a doe that would simply NOT leave my garden alone last year despite the Febreeze. TRG Quoted:
1. Mr. Clean w New Zealand Febreeze is a deterrent. I dunno why. Runs off bugs, grasshoppers, flies. Everything hates it. 2. Suppressed 9mm was my final solution to a doe that would simply NOT leave my garden alone last year despite the Febreeze. TRG Guess this is a version of SSS. Shoot Saute and Shutup. |
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I live out in the woods and have fought with the deer for years. After trying every home made and store bought deterrent or repellent I had just about given up on gardening or even landscaping. My garden spot is too far away from the house to run electric fencing, I tried a net fence but every year one or two would get tangled up in the net and tear it down. A few years ago I started using Milorganite in the garden and around my landscape plants that are deer candy and have been very pleased with the results. It is a slow release fertilizer and the deer obviously don't like the smell, win, win!
Milorganite |
Deer are the most worthless and destructive Animals on the Planet. Some Years back when We lived in W.Va. they ate My whole Garden down to the ground , not just the tops but the whole Plant only thing They left was the Habanero Peppers next to the stump. Old Woman called Me at work and told Me what They did to my Garden. I was pissed , came home that night with a Car Battery, a one million candle power light , and a box of 22 Mag,s. Every time I saw a Deer I shot it , when the Freezer was full shot them in the guts they ran away and died. I did this untill I moved away trom there. Shoot the old Does first , they teach the younger ones where the good stuff is. My Son just hit one of those worthless 4 legged bags of Shit last night , about 3K damage to the Trailblazer . Did I even mention how much I hate these Vermin. OK rant over !
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Back about a decade ago we had some HIGH deer densities. Bastards would NOT leave the garden alone. We tried: bars of Irish spring soap, hair clippings, piss, foil strips, pie plates on strings all with zero success. I fermented two dozen eggs, let them get pretty damned high, added two bottles of hot sauce and a bottle of stale men's cologne and hosed the garden down. It worked - for about 24 hours....... This shit smelled so bad it made my eyes water from 50 yards and STILL they ate my beans...
It was down to three options: 1) Shoot. Not legal, and its a very last resort here 2) Build a 12 foot fence. Not a great idea since I didn't want the back yard looking like a Stalin ere Gulag. 3) Go electric. Regular electric fencing is NOT a deterent. They jump through , under or over. The key is to use the fence to train the deer, much like invisible fence trains dogs. Bait the fence with peanut butter. I folded some 6"x6" squares of galv steel into little 'tents', draped them over the hot wire about 30" above ground, and fixed them in place with a bit of duct tape. Then place a big dab of PB under the tent. Along comes curious Bambi. He either gets the voltage in the nose, or on the tongue. They could easily jump the wire, but they quickly associate that smelly peanut butter with a facefull of WTF! In ten years I have had ZERO deer intrusions into the garden. I got this from several states dept of fish and wildlife/dept of environment websites. Not my idea, but it works good. |