A herd of deer absolutely destroyed my garden last year and I don't want that to happen again this year. A guy just up the road from me who has a greenhouse/farmstand business says he uses electric fencing:one strand about a foot off the ground to keep out rabbits and raccoon, etc. and another strand four feet or so to keep out deer. I was wondering if anyone else uses electric fencing and if it works. What else can I do to keep these varmints out of my garden? I was so depressed last summer because of the total destruction - I had had a difficult pregnancy but planted the garden anyway and then the day after I brought the baby home I looked out in the garden and it looked like Hiroshima, Japan after the Bomb! I mean complete destruction-nothing left. And everything had been beautiful just the day before-the beans ready to pick, etc., etc. Talk about "Post Partum Depression"! And it wasn't hormonal either! I'm glad Y2K didn't happen because I was counting on that harvest to at least help us through the winter. Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm going to start planting onions and carrots and other cool crops today.

Thanks in advance!

-- Susan Hutchinson (shutch@midmaine.com), April 18, 2000

Answers

Susan, we have tons of deer but they have never bothered my garden. It is fenced in but not with electric wire. Our secret? A German Shepherd! He cannot get inside the garden, he would probably trample everything, but he sure keeps all critters away as it is inside his territory! I have also tried in the past human hair around the perimeter of the garden. That seemed to work. The deer are beautiful but they sure can be destructive can't they?

-- barbara (barbaraj@mis.net), April 18, 2000.

The electric fence helps and a solar fence charger is economic but is a high dollar opening cost object. I might suggest 3/4 pcv pipe fore posts(much cheaper than convential posts). Alternative methods--1 Kill something and leave the body to rot in garden(animals hate the smell of death) 2. Hang noisey items on fence(like bells or aluminum pie pans,clanking together) 3. Human hair(out of hair brush) 4. Bloodmeal 5.Joel's favorite--Hang today's dirty shirt on scarecrow and change it everyday(bringing yesterdays shirt in to be washed. 6. Perfumed bars of soap from motels etc. and moth balls left around perimeter of garden. 7 or the Final Solution ! Take one slightly loaded assualt rifle--add stupid deer--mix thoroughly--clean and package resulted mixture and freeze. Hope this helps

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 18, 2000.

We have dear and the occasional elk and fencing is a serious business for us. I just added 400' of fence to our garden area, it is 1x1' woven garden fence, 6' high on 12' posts, (3' in the ground) with a smooth wire at 8' that has 1/2" PVC pipe strung on it, 8' fences are common in my area, it keeps out the deer and rabbits and other critters.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.net), April 18, 2000.

This is a sore point with me too. I have lived here 10 years and only had couple years with a decent garden. That was back when my dogs were at an age, they would chase any deer any time day or night. Now they tend to look up and think something like "oh its another deer" and go back to sleep. I have tried powerful electric fencers that left a few dead birds. I even made aluminum foil flaps coated with peanut butter and hung them on the electric fence. Deer touched them with nose and pow. Made for quite a midnight commotion until they learned to leave it alone and just jump over. A little revenge anyway. Last summer, I fenced part of my garden with cattle panels two panels high. Felt smug until one morning I went out to stems and deer pellets. Would have been worth it if I could have seen a deer jump 10 foot in and then out again. Probably could build another fence about six foot out from the first so they have a wider double hurdle, but may just try try hanging stuff that flags in the breeze.

-- Hermit John (ozarkhermit@pleasedontspamme.com), April 18, 2000.

My guess would be that if it works for your neighbor it would work for you. Having said that I have to say it wouldn't work here. Fences have to be 6 feet high or the deer will jump over them.We have our garden fenced with local cedar posts and 4 foot chicken wire, mostly to keep our free-range animals out. For some reason we haven't had a problem with deer, but others have. Joel had some good suggestions- deer are spooked by anything that moves or smells different, although the "dead thing" suggestion would just bring bears in here. They can be more destructive than the deer.( The first bear of the season just mangled our bird feeders and scared my mother half to death.)

Electric fence is easy to install unless you are on solid rock and fairly inexpensive for an AC charger- solar would probably be more. I use push-in electric fence posts for garden row markers when we're not using the fence. One caution though, don't use yellow insulators! The first year we had the fence up we found dead hummingbirds on the yellow insulators. Near as we can figure, water got on them and the birds thought they were flowers. I sprayed them all brown.

I sure hope you have better luck this year!

-- Peg (jnjohnsn@pressenter.com), April 18, 2000.

A couple of people mentioned problems with electric fence killing firds -- we don't use red insulators anymore because of the dead hummingbirds. But the worst was the first time we had an electric fence, walked out in the pasture one day and found a blue heron dead by the fence. Apparently it had walked right into the wires, and of course was grounded. Hermit John, sounds to me like you need a new dog!!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 18, 2000.

We've been applying liberal doses of kelp meal around the garden. Did it last winter to discourage the rabbits and deer from munching on our new orchard trees. Seemed to work. No damage at all over the winter.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), April 18, 2000.

I've heard that putting smelly work clothes and human hair around the garden helps deter them.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), April 18, 2000.

We were getting deer within 20' of the house regardless of having the dogs out during the day. One evening, I saw one in the yard not 50' from me. She took a few more nibbles of grass, then cleared the fence and WALKED away. My neighbor, 2 miles away, swears by Irish Spring soap hung in trees or on posts but it was only marginally successful for me. Besides, I think I hate the smell of the stuff worse than the deer are supposed to. We had fence on 3 sides of the yard and fenced the fourth last summer. We let our Great Pyrenees male have the run of the yard at night and he keeps not only the deer out of the garden but the small varmints away from the chickens and garden.

I hunted with my husband last fall for the first time in my half century of life and killed a 6 point buck just as it became legal to shoot. I would much rather have taken a doe because that would reduce the potential herd more than the buck. However, when one walks right under your stand, you take what you can get. He sure has been good eating and such sweet revenge. P.S. Hubby hadn't even gotten to his stand when he heard my shot as he'd walked around by the road rather than go through the brush and make noise. He didn't get one but the day we went down to remove the stand, there were 3 standing right under his permanent stand. Oops. He says I can still hunt with him this fall.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), April 18, 2000.

good job Marilyn! Yes human smells help. My son and husband even went so far as "markink there territoy" at the corner post! UGH! Well we didn't have deer or rabbits in the garden even though we are practically sitting onn the deer highway!

But then we also have a German Shepherd and the garden was our back yard (not in but was).

-- Novina West (lamb@stellarnet.com), April 18, 2000.

Thank you for your help everyone. I think I'm going to try the electric fence plus a few of your suggestions. Hermit John-I would have liked to have seen the deer jump a 10 foot high fence too-I'll bet he/she had a story to tell when they got back "home". To Joel- I agree with you about shooting the darn deer however, in this great State of Maine we have strict game laws and if I shot one out of hunting season and got caught I'd end up in jail plus a fine! You can only shoot varmints in their specific hunting season around here. The State is trying to preserve, preserve, preserve but all they are doing is regulating, regulating, regulating. It is ridiculous. Anyway, thanks for the ideas.

Also, my other neighbor uses a radio at night and that seems to work for him. Also, I read in Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living that someone uses eggshells. Apparently deer hate the smell of eggs. So, I'll try that too. The least I'll do is drive my neighbors crazy. Oh well. Too bad!

Thanks again. I feel like I've made a dozen new friends!

-- Susan Hutchinson (shutch@midmaine.com), April 18, 2000.

I cannot remember where I heard this or read it someplace, but SOMEBODY said that they keep deer out of their gardens by consructing their fences at angles instead of straight up and down..apparently, if the deer cannor see the top of the fence clearly, they are afraid to try to jump it,and if they attempt it anyway, they get immediately caught in the fencing and will never come around again (after they get out and you have to repair the fence)...some farmers here in Lancaster County use horrible "Cannons"....just the noise of a cannon..I do not know why they bother, because the deer eat the corn anyway while they listen to the noise.I had a friend once in Missouri who used to save dog hair in net bags (really) and habg them up around her garden..they looked funny and the deer were amused but ate her stuff anyway...

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), April 18, 2000.

See what happens when you do not wear your bifocals????Sory about all the typos !!!!!!

-- Lesley Chasko (martchas@gateway.net), April 18, 2000.

I remember reading (somewhere) that if you lay chickenwire (4') on the ground around the perimeter of the fence, the deer won't walk on it - therefore cannot get close enough to jump said fence. The deer have to get rather close to the fence in order to jump over (they seem to go almost straight up), and they don't like to walk on the fencing that's on the ground. Again, I read of this some time ago - never had to use it, since my freezer is regularly stocked with venison and the local population is kept at a reasonable number. Judi

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), April 18, 2000.

Deer used to clear 15 foot high fences here. They ran downhill and got a jump start and then had difficulty getting out so rammed the fence until they did or we intervened. My dog is at the sometimes I do sometimes I don't chase school right now. Pee and soap haven't worked. BUT putting the garden beds closer to the house with no fencing really has worked. The dog can intervene easily, I can hear them at night and they are so close that with a quick flick of a switch (I had a second switch to the outside lights insatalled in a bedroom) I can scare them off without leaving bed. I also move the chickens around in the yard/field to aid in the confusion.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@hotmai.com), April 18, 2000.

I've got deer problems also. My sweet corn got hit two nights in a row. I started 'markin territory', along with old eggs frothed up and sprayed around perimeter, and best of all, finally found a use for old bottles of aftershave(haven't shaved in 11 years). Taking cologne and aftershave every other day and marking everything, even up and down rows of corn. Hanging up sweaty shirts. Pie pans clattering when the wind blows. My deer haven't come back in two weeks. Starting to plant perimeter squash in preparation for coon depradations on the sweet corn. I've heard coons don't like the prickly leaves of squash.

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), April 19, 2000.

Deer are a serious problem in this area (W.Va.), but they've NEVER been a problem for my gardens. I depend on my dogs to keep them at a distance (as well as to discourage rabbits, raccoons, ground hogs, etc.). I don't see how anyone has a garden or chicken flock without a good dog. I'm told that soap is fairly effective, and it's not the perfume but the smell of the soap itself that repels. It works for a small area, and some rodents will eat it. Also egg & hot pepper sprays seem to have some success. I don't speak from personal experience here, though. I don't know about Maine, but in W.Va. it is easy to get a crop damage permit to shoot deer around your garden out of season. Ask a conservation officer (game warden) or call your state natural resources agency.

-- Sam Norris (snorris@dnr.state.wv.us), April 19, 2000.

Deer ate my beans last year, and an old timer here told me to keep the deer out, he takes vinegar, eggs, and moth flakes, mixes it up, pours it into a spray bottle, and sprays the perimiter of his garden...

I thought about trying it, but figured if I got any of that mix on me it'd keep the wife away too!

-- Eric Stone (ems@nac.net), April 21, 2000.