Wild Grit: Deerproof Your Garden

By George Devault
Published on July 1, 2007
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A scent cap with a few drops of apple scent will get deer close enough to feel the fence.
A scent cap with a few drops of apple scent will get deer close enough to feel the fence.
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Hot tape (temporary electric fence) offers both a visual and a pain barrier for deer.
Hot tape (temporary electric fence) offers both a visual and a pain barrier for deer.
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Deer were so plentiful in the truckpatch one season that they lined up along the road at sunset like hungry diners patiently eyeing an enticing restaurant menu. A neighbor swore he saw them wearing little bibs.

After dark, the farmer started hearing a voice in the lettuce patch, “Bambi, your table for four is ready…”

If that sounds all too familiar, take heart. You’re not alone. Deer populations throughout the country are said to be at their highest levels in 100 years. There are nearly 2 million deer in Alabama alone.

Don’t despair, you are not defenseless against marauding deer. Deer may be smart, determined and downright sneaky, but gardeners whose prize plants have been gnawed to pieces by what some of us call long-legged rats are even craftier.

Know your enemy

Rather than camping out on the back porch with the .30-30, resourceful gardeners use a wide variety of simple tricks and tools to keep deer at bay by targeting their keen senses of smell, hearing and sight. Home-brewed repellents, high-tech booby traps, invisible or electric fencing and even motion detectors target deer’s strengths – and turn the tables against them.

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