Deer Fencing

Scott_F · Jan 29, 2002

Agree with Franz. Latest issue of Organic Gardening suggests the same thing. Hang some mesh bags of Irish Spring soap every 8-10 feet aroung the garden.

fishman · Jan 29, 2002

BXMark,

I used electric fencing last year to keep the deer out of the garden. One strand 6" high to keep out the bunnies (didn't work too well) and one strand at 3.5' high to keep out the deer (worked great). Total cost for the setup was less than $50. One thing though, my garden was only about 30'x60', and chock full of tomatoes, corn, etc. They may be willing to jump the fence to get into a more open, larger space.

You can't walk around my place without stepping on a hoofprint or some other sign of deer presence/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif. They have no fear and confidently eat corn under my feeder while we watch them in plain view 20 yards away. Maybe we've got some kind of unwritten deal going or something. Last year I did dump quite a bit of inedible produce about the place, and they always cleaned it up/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mikemas · Jan 29, 2002

I agree with fishman about the electric fencing. I installed a single strand of high tension at 48" and a low strand at about 6" around my 75'x100' garden. I had no varmint damage of any type this past season thanks to the fence and my dog. The key to the electric fence is to put a tab of foil baited with peanut butter on the hot wire to condition the deer. The deer cannot resist licking this and it gives them quite a jolt. They completely disappeared from around the garden about 1-2 weeks after installing the charger. They reappeared after removing the charger to eat the winter rye groundcover. Also, the dog helps by doing an excellent job on the smaller varmints. (groundhogs, rabbits, & raccoons)

Mike

Boondox · Jan 29, 2002

I tried at least a dozen varieties of soap, and the deterrent action lasted at most two days. Also tried human hair, dog fur, dog and coyote pee, human pee. A single round from my Marlin .35 worked on one deer, but the #$%! fell over and crushed my basil!

What finally worked for me was long posts (6' above ground) and a short (4') fence with fishing line strung from the posts. The deer couldn't see the line, and it really seemed to spook them.

The other thing I had great luck with was putting my chicken tractor (mobile coop) near the garden. Not sure if it was the movement of the birds or the smell of their manure blocking the scent of danger, but the deer stayed away from the garden that year. They ate the blueberries instead.

Pete

Boondox · Jan 29, 2002

I think Robert hit the nail on the head. If you make it inconvenient enough to reach your veggies, they'll look elsewhere.

Pete

mdbarb · Jan 29, 2002

How does one collect coyote pee and live to tell about it.

Not that I really need to know....

Knight9 · Jan 29, 2002

<font color=blue>How does one collect coyote pee and live to tell about it.
</font color=blue>

Sneak up on them while they are sleeping and put their paw in a basin of warm water....works every time!!! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Kevin

Boondox · Jan 29, 2002

With a catheter and thick gloves.

Seriously, they actually sell the stuff in garden stores around here. Turns out about the only folks who swear by it are the salespeople. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Pete

Robert_in_NY · Jan 29, 2002

They raise them in cages and the urine runs down into a trough and to a barrel where it is then taken to be bottled for scent. Same for fox scent and numerous other animals, the water on the paw trick works well the first time but they get wise to it after that. Have fun.