Deer deterrence

[oldtimer]

We have a roe deer which regularly visits our garden and is partial to Madame's prized ornamental plants. She would like to know if members have any suggestions for encouraging it to stay away humanely. My suggestion of shooting, butchering and freezing did not go down well even though it was made tongue in cheek. Since we live on the edge of the village in a rural, partially wooded area where deer are plentiful, a permanent solution is desirable. Fencing is impracticable.

Madame has a high opinion of the bcuk hive mind since I asked for suggestions to deter mice and got ideas that actually worked. Love the smells, Mary.

 

[Buckshot]

I'm not aware of smells or such that deer stay away from.
the only thing i can think of is to offer something nice elsewhere to lure it away from the bits you want to keep!

 

[Chris]

Other than fencing, really the only deterrence for deer seems to be the .308 and a freezer full of venison option, or a dog that’ll scare them off.

 

[Pattree]

How close to a zoo are you?

There is a legend that “Zoopoo” is a deterrent. I do not know whether you are allowed to choose your poo. I’d suspect a high proportion of herbivore. I imagine, if the idea works at all, you’d want large cat. Is that an acceptable trade off.

As Clint Eastwood sings in Paint Your Wagon:
You’d be cured of what you’re suffering from and suffering from the cure!

 

[Toddy]

Our local zoo used to sell bags of lion dung to deter the deer. Seemed to work

 

[Broch]

It depends on the layout of your garden and the way the deer are getting in, but it may be possible to set up a 'dog bark' intruder alarm triggered by a sensor at 'deer height' to avoid too many false alarms.

 

[Damascus]

I’m on your side, a lead injection, .243 or above, would do the trick.

 

[slowworm]

Roe are territorial so the simple solution is for you and/or your wife to dress up as bigger roe deer.

 

[Pattree]

If you are going to take on the local stag you’d better be very very sure about what you are fighting over and the responsibilities if you win!

 

[demographic]

I'd be growing more of whatever attracts the deer and would take deer over flowers anyday.

 

[slowworm]

We frequently get roe in the garden but thankfully they don't do a vast amount of damage. They do seem to love the foliage of a pink geranium (Cranesbill) which they can strip but not much else. I would fence off any valuable plants such as young trees to stop them nipping out the growing tips. The other damage we have had is bark fraying, and putting several sticks around vulnerable plants helps.

I have heard deer don't like to mix with sheep, so if you can get hold of some dirty fleece (daggings) that may deter them.

 

[oldtimer]

Our local zoo used to sell bags of lion dung to deter the deer. Seemed to work

I quite like the smells of the essential oils you recommended to ,successfully, deter the mice but I'm not sure about lion poo.

 

[TeeDee]

,

 

[demented dale]

There is no fluffy feminine solution to this; Put your foot down, crack the whip and kill the thing. x .

 

[FerlasDave]

I have heard deer don't like to mix with sheep, so if you can get hold of some dirty fleece (daggings) that may deter them.

They don’t seem to care about that round here tbh…

 

[Nice65]

on the edge of the village in a rural, partially wooded area where deer are plentiful, a permanent solution is desirable. Fencing is impracticable.

Deterring them isn’t going to work, it’s either fence the area or deer proof the plants.

 

[TeeDee]

We have a roe deer which regularly visits our garden and is partial to Madame's prized ornamental plants. She would like to know if members have any suggestions for encouraging it to stay away humanely. My suggestion of shooting, butchering and freezing did not go down well even though it was made tongue in cheek. Since we live on the edge of the village in a rural, partially wooded area where deer are plentiful, a permanent solution is desirable. Fencing is impracticable.

Madame has a high opinion of the bcuk hive mind since I asked for suggestions to deter mice and got ideas that actually worked. Love the smells, Mary.

Option A - Stop producing coveted assets -
Option B - Restrict access with Border control via a Fence - But you say that's impractical , which I can believe.
Option C- Grow more sacrificial plants and accept the losses for as long as you can.
Option D - Move to a different location
Option E - Protect with force and kill the Deer


I've heard about the ZooPoo thing but I think thats just a clever little ploy dreamed up by some dragons den wannabe to sell to a gullible public.



I appreciate this may look like an allegory - its not , just listing what I think are the options.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I have a friend who had a problem with deer gnawing the bark off his newly planted walnut trees.

He put a single wire electric fence around the field. To the wire he fixed every 20 metres or so a strip of aluminium foil spread with a bit of peanut butter. Then he switched on the current.

The idea is that the deer are attracted by the smell of the peanut butter, lick it and get a shock, then associate this plot with a bad experience.

My friend told me that a couple of weeks should be enough, then the deer don't come back; they find somewhere else to graze.

 

[Tengu]

Are you sure this is Roe and not Muntjac?

 

[forrestdweller]

it's more than 25years ago since i used the stuff(and forgot the name) but one place where i worked in central europe used some commercially made foul-smelling concoction to protect young trees in spring when deer rub the velvet of their new antlers, it lasted only a few weeks without renewing but it worked.... .maybe someone with a background in forestry can figure out what i'm talking about...
tying a ferocious dog at night near the plants might deter deer, too...