Deer into strawberries and blueberrys--Grrrr!

[Pilot]

A doe and probably last year's doe have found my wife's berrys and we are not happy! In our strawberry patch they have eaten most of every plant. Browsed some of the blues. Last week I snuck out the side door or the garage and went after them, scared them off for the time being, but they will be back, i'm sure.

So, other than using my 12 Ga. how can we protect our crop? Barbed wire, electric fence (how high?), etc.? Good reason to get a golden retriever I've long wanted, but the deer will destroy the whole crop before the dog would be out of the puppy stage.

 

[Alan W.]

Ive been using an electric fence for years to keep the deer away. I have one wire about two feet high. Works excellent. They have never jumped it even though they easily could.

Another thing we use where its not fenced is bloodmeal. A little sprinkled around what the deer are eating and they wont touch it. You do have to reapply after a rain.

They have never touched our blueberries. The birds decimate those for us.

 

[CalG]

A doe and probably last year's doe have found my wife's berrys and we are not happy! In our strawberry patch they have eaten most of every plant. Browsed some of the blues. Last week I snuck out the side door or the garage and went after them, scared them off for the time being, but they will be back, i'm sure.

So, other than using my 12 Ga. how can we protect our crop? Barbed wire, electric fence (how high?), etc.? Good reason to get a golden retriever I've long wanted, but the deer will destroy the whole crop before the dog would be out of the puppy stage.

pups bark at deer too.

 

[bullbreaker]

Yes you can go electric or battery 12vt powered PARMAK MAGNUM 12UO FENCE CHARGER
or solar . I have various good brands I run and install locally through word of mouth . .The Parmak magnum 12 rite now you can get delivered for $110 . Run it off a 12v batt deep cycle if possible . You can recharge it like once per month or run it with a small solar panel and batt load controller . Of course you will need also post /wire/rope or tape ,insulators , ground rods . And though not 100per cent fool proof like a $16 "lighting diverter" . Heres some pics of some of the reasonibly priced units i usually have on hand for local yocals and myself . Unless you can find a great deal off CL or Facebook etc I would go with the Parmak mag 12 I sent you link to . Lots of bang for the buck. Amazon also has it for a few bucks more . Just my :2cents:

 

[mapper]

Homemade deer repellent fairly waterproof and lasts about a month, cut 2:1 with water before spraying. Jerry Baker recipe, stinks abit when first applied but not after a day or so, to humans anyway, deer can smell it a lot longer.
3 dozen eggs
1 cup of Tabasco sauce
A cup or so of garlic juice, puree in blender and strain out the pulp with a fine mesh sieve
Mix and blend all ingredients
Place in a tightly lidded container for a week or so anywhere warm but not in the house!
Spray on plants and if you wish surrounding vegetation. This stuff smells like decomposing prey to the deer, they think a large predator is around and has stashed its kill nearby.

 

[randy41]

a deer fence at least 7 1/2' high is the only thing that will work over the long term.

 

[PILOON]

Shavings of Irish Spring soap hanging in baggies that we make from window screening works as well.
I fold and make little roofs or hats to shed water otherwise rain soon washes out the soap flakes.

Now don't laugh but it works!
Deer decimate all our Hosta plants as they chomp them down to the roots otherwise.

Just yesterday a friend showed me photos of her husband hand feeding a doe that was visiting her garden, that's how accustomed to humans they have become.
Her dog simply looked on, uninterested.

 

[oosik]

We NEVER had problems with the deer in the strawberries. The chipmunks always ate them all before the deer or us could get a chance.

SO....... we put the strawberries in "boxes" ( boxes built with 1" x 12" boards ) and put 1/2" mesh wire on the box tops.

It became a PITA. Harvesting the berries and trying to keep the mesh wire tight and "chipmunk proof".

After a couple years we gave up on strawberries and went to raspberries. The chipmunks & deer didn't like them so very well.

 

[TnAndy]

a deer fence at least 7 1/2' high is the only thing that will work over the long term.

That is what we've found, though a 5 1/2' one seems to work for us. The few that will jump that get this solution:

 

[KOscvmc]

We bought a couple of these last year when they had a 1/2 price deal... Orbit 62100 Yard Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler with Day & Night Detection Modes. I've too few posts to post link, but you can search for it on Amazon.
They have worked great keeping deer and coons away from my wife's small fig trees, plus they keep the yard watered.