Darn Deer!
One evening a few weeks ago I was out in my garden rototilling. It was one of those hot, humid evenings and I had
taken off my long sleeve shirt and tossed it off to the side of the garden. I went up and down the rows a couple more
times before I shut off the tiller and parked it towards the front of my garden. As I turned around to go back and get my
shirt I spied a young deer standing not 40 feet away. I froze and so did the deer. He stared right at me. I stared right
back. Then he stomped his foot a couple of times as if to say “get out of my garden, it’s feeding time.”
After living in the country for over 20 years the deer have finally discovered my garden. And how! The foot
stomping incident was just the first of many appearances by this deer. And then he told his buddies and, well the rest
is history, and so are the tops of my red beets, peas and corn.
Like many frustrated gardeners I’ve started doing what I can to save my crop. Initially, I was going to enclose the
whole 40 X 60 foot garden with electric fence. Instead, I was talked into enclosing it in baling twine, a cheaper
alternative. I was told they don’t like the smell of the twine. It does have a strong chemical odor.
The baling twine seemed to work, for awhile. However, a couple of weeks later they were back in my garden
browsing the salad bar. Since then I’ve received all kinds of tips as I’ve told my sad tale of gardening woe. People
have suggested sprinkling the perimeter of the garden with human hair, mink hair (now where would I get that?) and
even human urine.
One piece of advice that I’d never heard before was to purchase a motion sensor sprinkler system. I was told that
when the deer get close to the sensor the sprinklers come on and the deer high tale it. It seems like this should work.
After all, nobody likes to get sprayed by a hose, except for a kid on a hot summer day. I may try this, though I can
imagine in my absent minded state how many times I’ll get drenched when I forget I’ve got the sensor on!
Just last Sunday I thought I’d give the baling twine another chance and strung up a fresh line of it. Then I
positioned a scarecrow in the middle of the garden. I put my favorite gardening hat on him so they’ll think it’s me.
Lastly, I sprinkled human hair around his feet. We’ll see what happens. If this doesn’t work, there’s always hunting
season. In fact, I’ve thought of turning my garden tool shed into a deer blind this fall.
I’ve heard some people say they’ve given up on gardening because of the deer, not to mention our short
summers. I hate to see this happen. Gardening is a great past time. It is a chance to get outdoors, exercise and get
lost in your thoughts while growing beautiful flowers and nutritious vegetables. I’m sure the early pioneers put up with
more hardships than this in those days.
For you folks who have given in to the deer you may want to consider trying some of the ideas mentioned above.
If you’ve tried all these things, like many say they have, and are frustrated I think the next best thing is to enclose your
garden in electric fence. I priced out a unit recently that isn’t as powerful as a cattle system, but supposedly delivers
enough of a shock to the deer to keep them out of your garden. You can purchase the transformer, wire and posts for
about $65. This is a fairly inexpensive investment considering the potential damage deer can do.
The above is just a few ideas for a difficult problem. The thing that has worked the best over the year is the
electric fence and a part beagle dog that has since deceased. Experiment, then let me know how it’s going.
Happy Gardening,
Neil