Deer

[kebo]

Try several strands of electric fence wire around your garden. One at about 6 inches, one at 24 inches, and another near the top of the fence post, about 5 feet. Solar fence chargers are available if an electrical outlet is not nearby.

Deer will eat tomato vines as well - it was a surprise to me. Only though bugs like tomato foliage.

And to those who would rant, crows will pull up sprouted corn and eat the kernel before it is used up. Shooting a crow and hanging it from a stick is the ultimate scarecrow. So yes, birds are shot when they intrude.

Garden pests of any sort are pests... no better than rats when they destroy foodstuff.

Depredation permits are available for those who like/want to follow the law like scripture.

I was actually trying to refer to birds other than crows (such as songbirds) because a lot of different birds will make "use" of a garden, but since you mention crows, there is also a season for crows in SC. I don't have any idea if Maryland has any regulations for crows or not.

As for depredation permits, they are generally issued to farmers who make a living off of raising crops, not to hobby gardeners who do it for personal consumption. Of course, other states may make exceptions and actually issue them to hobby farmers??

 

[TerryR]

We have found an 8-ft. fence of plastic deer netting effective. The manufacturer says to put nothing visible at the top to make it hard for deer to judge the height, since they can supposedly jump an 8-ft. fence, but don't try if they can't see the top. So far that's worked. The plastic is not effective against rabbits, but a 2-foot band of metal chicken wire at the bottom fixed that.

Terry

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

There are 3 little white tail bucks that seem to take turns draining about a quart of bird seed out of my feeder almost daily.
The feeder is about 15 yards from the house, and the deer will only move off about 10 yards when I go out to fill it. As soon as I turn my back they follow me back to the feeder. It is kind of fun to watch them grow and mature.

However the chipmunks are another matter. I have had them be destructive around buildings and machinery. So far I have taken 3 of them from under the bird feeder with a pellet rifle.

It's easier and cheaper for me to do my gardening at the farmers markets.

Enjoy

 

[MHarryE]

I have a small garden for early, and a half acre garden for later and larger. The small one we protected early with black deer fence and no problem. The large one had 30% damage to corn and 50% damage to peas before we noticed it and quickly put up the deer fence. It solved the problem but about then our canola fields started to bloom and the deer may ignore the garden for the canola. Too many acres to protect although my wife and I have each taken one out with a car. $1800 damage to mine and $800 damage to hers. The DNR gave us a permit to take 20 out of season 2 years ago but I still counted 43 in a field by our house this spring when things were just beginning to green up. We have several hundred unused 5' bales from the past 2 years sitting around. I'm tempted to surround my home fields with them because I heard deer won't jump if they can't see the landing point on the other side. They would probably just eat their way through.

 

[Mark Page]

Rant on: You know, it's probably against Maryland state law to shoot deer out of season. Did you ever think about it, before you blab it on the internet? I love to deer hunt myself, but I follow the rules & laws and it irks me when people openly brag about taking game animals out of season. Are you going to start shooting the birds too, when they peck on the tomato's??

There was another guy on this forum up in Conn. (I think that's where he was at) and he was on here writing about woodpeckers destroying the siding on his house. He was shooting them even though they are a federally protected migratory species. Some people are just dumb, no matter how intelligent they may try to make you believe they are. :Rant off

It's just a fact that when someone plants a garden, the wildlife is going to get some part of it. That 's just the way it is. The simple solution is to plant an extra row of corn and let the deer be... that is until deer season is open!!!

I've talked to the local DNR Rep. He would be happy to give me a half dozen depravation tags without even coming up here. We have so many deer that the State dosen't know what to do to thin the herd. They have doubled the firearm season to two weeks, added a second BP season and tripled the bag limit for firearms. None of this has really worked we still only kill about 50,000. They are afraid that an outbreak of mad cow disease will decimate the herd.
I like having the deer on the property, I enjoy watching the fawns play in the food plot I planted for them. I like putting out corn for them in the winter. I like seeing the same doe show up every spring with her 2 fawns and seeing the bucks as their racks mature out of velvet.
I've been hunting deer since I was 14. I have never knowingly broken the law and I also dislike poachers, but as an apex predator I reserve the right to protect what is mine. I'd sooner not have to deal with this, but it's all part of living the rural life we love.
Now where's the boiling water and butter?

 

[scaredychicken]

guardian type DOGs would be my solution to protect property, livestock, garden - and to keep deer, bears, coyotes at a distance.
we had bear trouble recently, and have decided that the jack russell (who treed it 5x), now needs a tag-team partner on the property.

 

[Mark Page]

Our Jack Russell chases deer all the time, as if she had a chance of catching them. The problem is she's in at night when the deer are at work. She also chases squirrels and crows.

 

[Mark Page]

I was actually trying to refer to birds other than crows (such as songbirds) because a lot of different birds will make "use" of a garden, but since you mention crows, there is also a season for crows in SC. I don't have any idea if Maryland has any regulations for crows or not.

As for depredation permits, they are generally issued to farmers who make a living off of raising crops, not to hobby gardeners who do it for personal consumption. Of course, other states may make exceptions and actually issue them to hobby farmers??

Depredation permits can be issued to home owners with deer who destroy landscaping, gardens and just about anything else. The DNR is looking for any method they can to thin the herd.

 

[Mark Page]

A few years back my neighbor had a problem with squirrels eating away their cars. They would eat the insulation off wires and and go right through hoses. Thier mini van took an $800 hit and thier Accord a $1,500 bill. Her father who lives with them started trapping them and dispatching them. That cured the problem. He says his total count is around 120. I'm not sure how else you could solve the problem.

 

[Freddieboy]

We have found an 8-ft. fence of plastic deer netting effective. The manufacturer says to put nothing visible at the top to make it hard for deer to judge the height, since they can supposedly jump an 8-ft. fence, but don't try if they can't see the top. So far that's worked. The plastic is not effective against rabbits, but a 2-foot band of metal chicken wire at the bottom fixed that.

Terry

I have had serious deer issues at both my Md. gardens and have had great success setting up a perimeter using cheap 50 # fishing line from Walmart. As mentioned above, they can feel it, but cannot get a handle on where the top is and stay out.