Rather foul smelling and supposedly frightening substances that are placed near gardens. These are not taste repellants that one might spray on, for example, dormant apple trees. There are also a number of odor repellants. Anything odd balloons, streamers, aluminum pie plates will make the deer uneasy remember to alter locations. I have seen simple, empty fertilizer bags inverted over stakes in gardens bring relief for a week or more.

Success will depend on the deer's previous conditioning to garden feeding and on your effort.įirst, there are the classic scarecrow structures that resemble human forms. In time it will develop a habit that is hard to break. The more visits a deer makes, the more at ease it becomes in the garden environment. Next time an even more elaborate device will be needed.Īnother important strategy is to scare the animals as soon as they begin to come to a garden. But if the shirt stays in the same place for seven days and emits no human odor, the deer will soon overcome any fear. Initially, perhaps, the shirt made the deer nervous. Consider a red flannel shirt hung as a scarecrow on a post by a garden. Also, don't rely too much on one type use a variety. In using scare devices it is most important to change their positions often. Deer, like crows, overcome their fear for an unchanging object. This explains why various scarecrow devices work only for a short time. Have you ever driven 100 km per hour on a highway and watched crows stand unconcerned at the roadside as you sped by? So accustomed or conditioned to the traffic have they become that they are no longer afraid. Often they do not work or work only temporarily.Īn important concept to understand is conditioning. Each relates in some manner to a deer's sense of sight, hearing, smell or taste. People have tried to scare deer in a great variety of ways.

The purpose of this article is an attempt to help gardeners find a peaceful solution for saving their gardens from the nocturnal visits of deer. Admit it, however, despite the fact that they have again eaten this year's beans, down deep there is still an affection for deer. The obvious retort of many frustrated gardeners reading the title of this article will be 'Shoot the damn things'.

Garden fences to keep out animals