No more garden !

We got up the other morning and I checked on the birds. Their water tub was empty. First time it was ever completely empty. No corn and seed under the bird feeder. Start back to the house. Peach tree is half gone. Started to look around. Oh, oh! Deer tracks in the yard. We do have a fence. This is the first time they have ever jumped my fence. Must be the hot dry weather, plus the oil people are up and down the road all hours of the day and night and have disturbed their feeding/watering places. This morning I went out and fill the birds water tub and pans again and found that I have no more tomatoes. Just half plants or no plants. No tomatoes at all, not even green ones. Now, I am in a quandry, do I quit feeding and watering the birds. There are a few bushes and flowers they can still eat. The birds are there every day and come right up to the door if the feeder is empty. Do I move the feeder outside the fence where the animals and cats can get to the birds while they are eating? So far, the backyard plants seem okay. If I move the feeders to the back yard will the deer find them and eat everything back there? What to do? What to do?

dooley

 

Oh that's terrible!
I don't think the deer are just after the bird food... they are looking for anything to eat it sounds like. So I'd continue feeding the birds just like you always do.
We keep the deer out of the garden by putting a radio out there 24 hours a day... loud. It works better than a scarecrow.
So sorry to hear about your garden being eaten up. :'(

 

Ohhh bummer, or should I say oh deer? Anyway, unless you have bears I don't think your birdseed is a problem. However there are inexpensive ways to deter deer from eating your garden. Deer do not have good eyesight but their hearing is excellent. As Cheryl said a radio is a good source of sound and there are plenty of 'talk radio' programs that deer may not find interesting and leave. Wind activated deterrents such as pie plates, soda cans and old CD's startle the deer if they move within their field of vision. If you have white tail deer then their warning sign is a tail going up. A mobile with objects 8" x 3", black on one side and white on the other side will simulate a warning sign as it rotates. As with all deterrents they have to be moved periodically to prevent the deer from getting used to them. Deer are smart enough to ignore objects they see frequently. Deer even learn the effective area of chained dogs and stay out of bounds. Deer don't like surprises in sight or sound. Creative gardeners get to eat the veggies before the deer.

Jerry

 

Do you see deer tracks ? If they jumped a fence you could see where they land on the other side. Or there would be tracks around the garden. With all the rain there has been lately there is plenty of grass,,I would look for raccoons.

 

Mart - deer don't eat grass.
Deer are creatures of habit and will return to places that they find food. I'd try the deterrents that Jerry suggested, and maybe spray the perimeter of your yard with a product such as SKOOT.

 

I am so sorry about your garden. I think it's just going to be a tough year. We are parched in these parts. We water what we have to hoping for some coolness and rain.

We have seen and trapped more animals around here this year, than all the years living here, combined. We all just have to live through the frustrations and what nature dishes out to us till next year.

 

It was a deer. There were deer tracks all over the garden. The damage was typical of that done by a deer. We have seen the deer several times including in our yard. Deer season is opening soon. We may not have as many veggies in the freezer, but I'll bet there will be venison.
If I have to feed them, we will eat him this winter.

dr

 

Dooley and DR, deer are repelled by rosemary. This information isn't of much help now, but for next year's garden a scattering of rosemary plants, or better yet a hedge of rosemary, will keep the little hoofed herbivores away from your garden.
When we lived in town folks with bigger hearts than brains kept asking us how to repel deer--after they fed them corn because "they're so cute." As soon as they saw a buck in rut, the "cute" went away. Nothing like having your grandchild chased up onto the porch by a horned mammal to bring you to your senses!
I'm so sorry about your garden, especially since you did nothing to attract the deer.
I have some venison recipes I'm willing to share . . . .

 

Netty,, Deer here in Texas eat grass. Don`t know what they eat there where you are but I can assure you they eat grass here !! They love our coastal Bermuda pasture.

 

Sorry to hear of this for you Dooley. Thats a serious bummer. I have a rogue deer who has eaten my peas, beans, corn silks, beet tops etc... They will eat whatever appeals to them or whatever is available when they are hungry....but tomatoes? They must be desperate! you can sprinkle hair all over them if you can get some at the barber/beauty shop....human urine is a cheap and excellent repellent, too. They just don't like to be around people.

 

I am amazed to hear the deer eat grass there! Here, they will eat anything BUT grass!! In fact, my neighbor had a young deer that he was raising and he would bring him grass from his hay field and it would not eat. I told him to get some clover and alfalfa and then the deer ate. After that he would watch what the deer ate in the field and put that out for it. Still doesn't help Dooley any, but venison steaks are yummy!

 

Deer damage is so annoying. I'm sorry for your garden Dooley. We've got roe deer and red deer around. The roe deer are kept out of gardens by a 2 meter tall fence or by a shorter fence with a couple of strings above. They can't jump over and won't jump through. I'm with DR. Eat them. But if they're anything like our deer they're nowhere to be found once hunting season starts.

 

And I was whining over the Groundhog feasting on our Okra, Zucchini, etc.
Four really nice Zucchini ready for picking and he takes a couple of bites from each. Just enough so we can't eat them. YUK.
Maybe some type of warning system? I've seen motion barking things.
I'm so sorry.

 

A friend told me to sprinkle baby powder around the plants and trees and bushes. Just for good measure I sprinkled it along the fence, too. I haven't seen any additional damage. But, it's pretty much gone so who can tell.

dooley