I live in Centreville and have an increasing problem with deer devouring everything green in my backyard. Last year I replaced most of my plants with varieties that are widely said to be "Deer Resistant". I even left the tags on the plants that show a deer with a red circle and line through it. But alas, the deer cannot read. Througout the fall and winter they've continued to eat any and all new growth.
My HOA won't let me put up a tall fence or anything else unsightly. I tried a month of regularly spraying "Deer Off", but that didn't phase the deer. Does anyone have any solutions? No, I'm not allowed to kill them. Also, please don't suggest Irish Spring or human hair (they were also ineffective and the neighbors complained).

Paintball gun.

Thats what you get for living in an HOA-controlled neighborhood - where a committee gets to decide how you live your life on "your" property.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2009 12:49PM by ITRADE.

I'd be more than happy to bring my 12 gauge over and take care of them for you. I won't even charge you a penny.

Move all your plants to the house next door ..

You dummy. You probably left the tags on the signs with the words written in English. Try the image of a deer with the line slashed through it. A picture is worth a thousand words.

I know what'll work only because I read about it in a dentist office this morning, no less:

Bear piss.

No, you don't need to procure this yourself since the danger level would be through the roof. The article I read said you can buy this and spray it on and around your vegetation.

A large dog will usually deter deer from hanging around in your yard. You're pretty much out of luck when the dog's inside though.

I get 10-16 deer through my yard in Springfield daily and my property is just under an acre. They love azaleas, so I'd stay away from buying any for your yard. It's been my experience they go wherever they damn well please no matter what you plant or put out to deter them, save a dog. They don't seem to like being chased by dogs.

They make deer netting that goes over bushes and flower beds.

I guess the mesh netting makes in difficult for the deer to chew up the flowerbeds and bushes. And when installed it is hard to see.

It seems to work in my neighborhood. Last year they put some bushes in my entrance, Within the next week they were stripped clean. This year my HOA put new bushes in, this time with the netting. The bushes are still there.

Talk to the people at Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna. They should have been dealing with this for a long time. They ought to have a sense for what works and what doesn't. I think the bear urine is on the right track, but how bad does that smell?

Get a cougar, aka mountain lion.

As an added bonus, the big cat will take out joggers and yappy little dogs.

Try hanging dried blood or blood meal in bags around the yard. Or scatter blood meal around the garden beds. You might want to start educating your HOA. Without large predators our local deer population is out of control. Deer are clearing out forests of diversity and are spreading Lyme's disease. Make sure your dog's tick topical med is always up to date.

Check out Where the Wild things Were by William Stoltenburger. There's a chapter devoted to the deer overpopulation, why the re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone works better than hunting (I know, no one wants wolves or cougars back in VA), and outlines efforts taken in Fairfax County to maintain the deer population.

zzyxxe Wrote:
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> Also, please don't suggest Irish Spring or human hair (they
> were also ineffective and the neighbors complained).

Tell your neighbors to get bent. If they're stupid enough to eat your plants, then they deserve to get a mouthful of hair and soap.

Sprinkle human hair around your yard.

The only urban predators that deer still fear are dogs. When I trimmed my dogs, I took the UNWASHED hair to my friend's house. He spread it around his shrubs - a little on the ground and some on the shrubs themselves. You don't need much. He also rubbed the hair on some of the tree bark of the trees behind the house, where the deer came onto the property from the woods. The deer kept their distance until it rained.

In exchange, my friend bought me new clippers a couple times a year because dirty hair will dull the blades after a few uses (really bad). Groomers wash the hair before clipping which removes the scent and makes it ineffective.

The hair is only good as long as it stays dry - it is no longer effective after a rain or snow.

Human hair rarely works in populated areas. Most of the deer are so used to seeing and smelling humans, they don't consider them a threat.

=====


Some Hunting & Sporting Goods stores might recommend effective urine solutions, though some are rather "pungent" and even more so after a rain. I'm sure your neighbors would not be happy with this solution.

my mother-in-law had this problem. Believe me, she is plenty scary, the fact that she could not scare them away terrified me personally. That said - you are doomed. She tried everything, fox piss, wolf piss, her piss, dried blood, the blood of those she fed on, hot pepper spray, soap, mothballs and on and on. The only thing that worked was a 9 foot electric fence.

Best of luck.

PS an outdoor dog will probably do the trick.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2009 07:36PM by dono.

Try Bobex. That stuff is made of puke, urine, crap, and used tampons. It really stinks but is effective.

If you decide to get the cougar, aka mountain lion, can you take pictures, of the cougar that is, and post them here? Kind of like the LOL Kitty pics?

You should move somewhere where there are no trees. Deer live in woods.

Porksta Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sprinkle human hair around your yard.


Reading comprehension is not your strength.

too much bambi is very bad for forests Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Try hanging dried blood or blood meal in bags
> around the yard. Or scatter blood meal around the
> garden beds. You might want to start educating
> your HOA. Without large predators our local deer
> population is out of control. Deer are clearing
> out forests of diversity and are spreading Lyme's
> disease. Make sure your dog's tick topical med is
> always up to date.
>
> Check out Where the Wild things Were by William
> Stoltenburger. There's a chapter devoted to the
> deer overpopulation, why the re-introduction of
> wolves into Yellowstone works better than hunting
> (I know, no one wants wolves or cougars back in
> VA), and outlines efforts taken in Fairfax County
> to maintain the deer population.


okay, that's just stupid - Contact - Suburban Whitetail Deer Management - they have a website


SWMNV operates primarily in the Northern Virginia counties of Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier. However, other areas of operation include Warren and Clark Counties. Within these counties, SWMNV is available for Kill Permit, Deer Control Assistance Program (DCAP), and Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) programs on anything from a small suburban lot to a large farm, nursery or development project.

ScareCrow or ScareDeer. or whatever

Well, did you get the cougar or not? just curious

I had those commie rat bastards eat all my plants and tried a bunch of stuff until I stumbled on this.

human pee
hot sauce
1 egg
water

Mix the water and egg together and then hit it with a stick blender. Strain it through a fine wire mesh stainer. Mix in the pee and hot sauce (full bottle). Pour into a spray bottle. Let it set out in the sun till it rots (couple of days). Spray every couple of days directly on plants and on your fence line.

It worked for me.

Of course, having a rottweiler in the back yard works better.

Oh I love this thread. Glad to see it back!

Don't you know we're in a recession...each deer in your backyard could feed your family for 1 month...shoot em! that or let someone else hunt/shoot em, and they'll probably split the meat with you.

We use this in Chantilly and it works -- a mixture of one egg, ten drops of capsaicin extract and water to fill a standard garden spritz bottle. Mix, let age for two days. You need to do this after every rain. Also, the mixture smells terrible, but just when you put it on the plants. The smell goes in an hour or so. You want to get a good spritz bottle that dispenses lots of fluid. When making a new batch, leave some of the old stuff in the bottom -- it seems to help ferment the batch.