MontyJ
Deeply Rooted
Ya know, I used to wrap the young trees in hardware cloth. This year I decided to forego the trouble because I usually have doe problems. I love hunting, but am always too busy to get out. I think a little time will be set aside this coming fall to "thin the herd". I wish he would come in the yard during the daylight hours when I'm home. I see a lot of does cutting across, but never a buck. I keep the garden inside an eight foot fence and train the deer to stay away. I have plastic fencing I use around the grapes when they start to turn (another hard lesson learned). The older trees don't lose much because they are out of reach. This is the first time I have lost an entire tree to a deer.
For those that have a serious deer problem, they can be trained to avoid certain areas. It sounds barbarian, but it works; and if you have suffered the losses I have, it has a sort of morbid gratification to it:
I have an electric fence charger. You have to get one that is a continuous charger, not pulse. Run a single fence wire about 3 feet off the ground. From that electrified wire hang 4"x4" squares of aluminum foil coated with peanut butter (I also press alfalfa pellets into the peanut butter as an added attractant). Plug in the fence and wait a few days. Deer love peanut butter and alfalfa. I don't know how bad 20,000 volts hurts on the tip of the tongue, but I have heard yelps inside the house. After a week or so, I only see deer tracks around the garden.
I know it sounds cruel. But at some point I have to defend what's mine.
On a lighter note, a very funny thing also happens. You should see the birds trying to eat the peanut butter off of the foil! They don't get shocked because they are not grounded, but the foil swings as they try to eat it and they look like those bobbing birds on a desktop!
For those that have a serious deer problem, they can be trained to avoid certain areas. It sounds barbarian, but it works; and if you have suffered the losses I have, it has a sort of morbid gratification to it:
I have an electric fence charger. You have to get one that is a continuous charger, not pulse. Run a single fence wire about 3 feet off the ground. From that electrified wire hang 4"x4" squares of aluminum foil coated with peanut butter (I also press alfalfa pellets into the peanut butter as an added attractant). Plug in the fence and wait a few days. Deer love peanut butter and alfalfa. I don't know how bad 20,000 volts hurts on the tip of the tongue, but I have heard yelps inside the house. After a week or so, I only see deer tracks around the garden.
I know it sounds cruel. But at some point I have to defend what's mine.
On a lighter note, a very funny thing also happens. You should see the birds trying to eat the peanut butter off of the foil! They don't get shocked because they are not grounded, but the foil swings as they try to eat it and they look like those bobbing birds on a desktop!
