scaring the deer

[drozwood90]

Irish Spring Soap. I've been told it works well.

However, the guy that told me that, said his dog kept eating the soap that would drip down to the ground.

He hung the bars on the tree, and the scent apparently wards off deer.

--Dan

 

[beelzerob]

Ya, heard that one too. I'm surprised mythbusters hasn't tackled some of these...

I also heard that (ahem) "marking" the trees would declare to the deer that it was YOUR territory, not theirs. *shrug* Gives me an excuse to be a typical boy....

 

[Mike P]

Irish Spring soap does nothing, My wife tried that earlier this winter. I think the deer ate our plants and then used the soap for breath mints. They are killing me this year, They have eaten thousands of $$$ of plants, trees, & bushes. Broke two of my $150 Kitchler lights. They started jumping over my fence to get into my pool area(Even with my Beagles in the fence line). They are walking across my pool, As soon as it gets a little warmer and the ice melts, there goes 4K for a new cover after they rip through it. They are even eating all the plants around my pond(2 feet from the house), if they step in the pond, there gois the liner.

If anybody comes up with a solution that works, PLEASE let me know. All I can think of that I know will work is a fence. The problem there is the cost. I got a quote for 8' deer fence on the sides and back of my property, 6' aluminum fence along the front and gates for the driveway.......Total.....$45K.

We have tried almost everything suggested to us with no good results.

I may get a gun, but if I get caught, the fines are steep.

HELP......I hate deer :hesaid:

Mike

 

[beelzerob]

Well, so the whole water scarecrow thing seems like it's pretty effective, except it has at least two limitations:

1) Seems to have a pretty small area of sensitivity.
2) The water in the hose would freeze in the winter.


So I guess depending on how far out you're talking from the house, you could always use pipe heating wire to keep the hose from freezing (use your temp sensors to know when to turn it on), and take the water out to the area with an underground pipe so you only have to keep the above ground spigot from freezing, not the entire length.

Or maybe it's the motion that most scatters the deer. In that case, you just need a combination of motion sensor and some mechanical/motorized device you can turn on and off. It probably doesn't have to do much, just start moving.

 

[AndyWelch]

Two Things I have done around my garden and it seems that one of them did work

1) I have a friend that has a hair salon and I spreed hair aroud the outer edge.
2) I got this spray at Lowes thats called deeraway it has hot pepper extract in it but only last about two weeks But I have not even seen a deer in my yard sence last year

 

[jwilson56]

Cheaper on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...atchlink:top:us

 

[Mike P]

Two Things I have done around my garden and it seems that one of them did work

1) I have a friend that has a hair salon and I spreed hair aroud the outer edge.
2) I got this spray at Lowes thats called deeraway it has hot pepper extract in it but only last about two weeks But I have not even seen a deer in my yard sence last year

I tried about $300 worth of that stuff, No help at all. I live on top of a mountain in a private community with 46 houses all having 5 acres each. On one side of us is a few hundred acre Boy Scout camp, on the other side is a few hundred acre Girl Scout camp, on the other side is Harriman State park, NY with a few thousand acres, after that is West Point, with another thousand acres or so. I am only 45 min from Mid Town Manhatten, But it feels like I am in the middle of a million acre forest. I guess its the fence or BANG....... :hesaid:

 

[gatchel]

A compound or a crossbow usually does the trick!

:hesaid:

 

[MikeB]

We have tried almost everything suggested to us with no good results.

Mike P - Wow... if nothing else your post made me feel a bit better about only losing my bushes. Thanks for sharing! :hesaid:

Water based solutions aren't a good option for me since my problem is only in the winter. I think I'm going to focus on some kind of noise-based deterrent and use deer-off type stuff religiously. My only problem with noise is I believe they attack only at night, so I'm trying to find something that might be acceptable to sleeping people - I thought some kind of dog bark siren might be more appealing than a standard siren.

 

[WayneW]

electric fence?

 

[Mike P]

electric fence?

Nuclear fence :hesaid:

 

[beelzerob]

Ya, I think you're safe knowing light probably won't deter them. Lights seem to make deer just stupid, not scared, as evidenced by my many encounters with them on roads.

If the sound was localized, I'd guess it doesn't have to be very loud, so maybe minimal annoyance factor. Maybe the low growl of a grizzly bear or people talking instead of a dog barking?

Please keep this thread updated as you try stuff, as we have deer all over here, but don't yet have anything that they'd find worth eating.

 

[Neurorad]

If you spent a lot of money on something that would attract them (giant gem-encrusted salt lick dispenser), then they would disappear. :hesaid:

Find another option to block the water-retention area, one that is deer-independent. Some kind of 'berm'/mound?

I wish I had more deer in my back yard.

 

[MikeB]

Find another option to block the water-retention area, one that is deer-independent. Some kind of 'berm'/mound?

A nice big white fence would do the trick, but I was trying to stick with a more "natural" look. :hesaid:

 

[Neurorad]

Find another option to block the water-retention area, one that is deer-independent. Some kind of 'berm'/mound?

A nice big white fence would do the trick, but I was trying to stick with a more "natural" look.

A berm is basically a mound of dirt. You can cover it with bushes, trees, grass, and other plants, raising the height. I suggest plants that don't lose their leaves in the winter (evergreens, etc.). It can look quite natural, like a 'rolling hill', or hills.

Not very natural, but this gives you an idea: