How to stop the Deer! (1 Viewer)

[Tim L]

Help the deer are eating all my abrovitea trees- I noticed lately they have been looking rather thin and tonight I caught them in the act- there are about a million different types of sprays on the web- does anyone have any experience with this problem and if so- what is the best method- fencing is out because I live on a 4 acre lot and thats not gonna happen $$$$- any help awould be greatly appreciated
Tim

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Lived in Idaho for years, dad still lives there on a couple hundred acre lot. Lots of white tail deer and mule deer, only solution was fencing to protect the trees. Never saw anyone use a spray that worked in my experience. Only way to protect gardens or trees is with fencing. Garden took 10' tall fence. Trees only took that wiring fence material. Wrap the trunk maybe 5-6' high.

They can still reach hanging branches but won't damage the tree. No clue what abrovitea trees look like so that might not work, but with most trees that deer like that's what you do.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

What the heck is an "abrovitea" tree? Even Googol comes up empty on this word.

 

[Ricardo C]

I'm pretty sure he meant arborvitae

 

[Tim L]

Sorry about the spelling-but ricardo is right -the picture is exactly that- the problem is the trees are only around 5ft. now and rather picked over-I'm not sure they will be able to bounce back-I saw some deer netting advertised at lowes store web site- it comes in 100ft. rolls- but that looks like alot of digging-especially when I have 40 trees! and the ground is pretty cold here in Massachusetts right now. oh well the search continues- anyone ever hear of tree wraps? or tree netting?
Tim

 

[Julian Reville]

Ohh, I bet the little deersies are hungry!!!! Otherwise, I'm sure they wouldn't bother your nasty old arbovitamins.

You should feed them. I recommend Deer Chow , available at fine Herbivore Stores everywhere, or online at my website. (E-mail me for details)

I'm sure the little darlings didn't mean to hurt your little scrubby arbythingys, but they were starving !

 

[DwightK]

Buy yourself a paintball marker or bb gun and peg em a few times. They will get the message. Seriously.

My dad had deer problems in PA and after trying everything you can buy he used a pellet pistol. It actually worked. Deer remember.

I would choose the paintball marker as it isnt a real gun and is safe.

 

[KyleS]

DwightK,

You should be careful not to offer up advise that is Illegal in almost all states. Both the Paintball and BB gun would be considered harrasment (No I am not kidding) and if caught you could be looking at some serious fines and Jail time.

I grew up on the farm and the only way we were ever able to get deer to stop eating something was to either fence it off with 10' fencing or to give them something more appealing to eat.

KyleS

 

[Eric Samonte]

But giving them food make them more....demanding? I had a friend once who happened to throw out some apples to 1 deer. The following day, she said they had about day waiting for hand outs!

 

[Elinor]

The Lowes deer netting (also their bird netting) works. With so many trees it would be a bit of a pain ... but I can't imagine why you're thinking you need to dig? You can buy some squared-U shaped clips ... you drape the netting over the tree and tack the bottom down with the clips.

Most trees are very hardy. The darn deer at my place kept an azalea bush pruned to about 6" for over 2 years ... as soon as I put the netting over it, within 3 months it had almost tripled in size. I think the root system continued to develop, making it just raring to "grow" once I prevented the deer from eating it.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

You can wrap the trees up to about 6' high in burlap to protect them over the winter. People are right though, the only real deterrent is a nice high fence, which is what my backyard got this summer, and so far, no deer footprints or giblets. They can clear a fence up to 7'.

 

[Julian Reville]

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

If you make sure the netting is secure, there is no need for digging. We just wrap burlap and tie it with string around the tree.

A dog is also a good deer deterent. Horses aren't, the deer just mingle.

Cougar urine is supposed to be a good deterent, but the darn things just don't want to pee in a cup.

 

[Elinor]

Cougar urine. Why didn't I think of that?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Here kitty, kitty...

 

[Matt Butler]

I recommend feeding them since you said you couldnt get a fence.

 

[Peter-PP]

Arbovitae trees are really ugly trees and they deserve to be eaten.

 

[Tim L]

Well I did buy the deer net and wrapped all forty trees today-damn it was cold! I used wire to secure them-I also bought some deer repellent called "Liquid Nails" not sure how good it works though, but its snowing today so I would have to wait for a dry day. I never thought of using Deer Chow- I don't want them hanging around the house-and if I feed them it seems that they will always be here. Oh and abrovitaes aren't ugly to me-thats just a bad picture
I planted them because they are cheaper than most evergreens and make and excellent barrier (neighbors and such). Other than the deer- they are supposed to be a sturdy and maintance free tree- but lately this doesn't seem the case. Thanks for the advise-keep em coming.
Tim