Never mind keeping the cats out...

[smartie]

What about these lovelies?



She was on her own this morning - left her chap to mind the little one - and consented to pose for a photo before sauntering off to see what's new in the flower beds. So the annual battle begins - and I always lose!!

Any helpful suggestions which don't involve harming the animals will be given due consideration.

[Martin Wilson]

A problem I do not get..living on an Island stops most migration of the four legged variety.
Birds two legs, and blessed with flight "mostly" .
Have you tried one of those Japanese Deer Knockers, you see them in Oriental Water Gardens made of Bamboo and counter balanced so when they fill with water they drop down and make a loud "Donk" sound. I thought that they were designed for this purpose.
Good luck in whatever you do I sympathise with your problem...
....A beautiful animal not quite where you want it...

Martin

Is it a Musk Deer I have no Idea, I have only heard tell of them.

[nightshade]

Martin beat me to it ,the deer scarer,or cheaper, Video tape
stretched taut between posts or branches
I used to use them on my Kites (the string and sticks variety) Scary!

[smartie]

It's a muntjac, Martin. Smaller but no less deadly to the flowers and vegetables. Note how sleek and well fed it is

We've thought of a deer scarer, and I'm sure you are right we should give it a try - the problem is where to put it. Or maybe how many we need. Our boundary is leaky at almost all points and measures about 300m. Can't afford to reinforce all of it. They ooze through any hedge, however prickly, and have been observed to jump about 8 ft. We've tried hanging shiny or fluttery stuff round the border but they just got used to it. We put wire netting up across the most leaky places and they dug scrapes under it. Not tried the videotape idea - I've got plenty of redundant ones. I'll try it and let you know...

[Martin Wilson]

Going back many years, when I was a kid in Ghana my Mums garden was always attacked, mostly at night by all sorts of animals one of the main culprits was a Bush Dyker ( can not or do not remember its real name) very similar to the southern African Dik dik except it lived in the bush of West Africa and was smaller.
Point being she had a few Scarecrows fashioned out of palm fronds, a little like the Wicker Man and they used to stand guardian over her garden, they would rustle in the wind and at night could be seen by their sharp nocturnal eyes as well as being heard.
As nightshade has said a little VCR tape would do the same maybe on a willow frame but it what you require in your garden.
It could be quite rural and esthetically pleasing to your eye as well.
My God!! thats brings back memories, scarred me to bits at first.

Martin

[badgerwatcher]

Oh Smartie, how pretty, and certainly not undernourished!
What a difficult dilemma!
Are they afraid of snakes? Maybe a few joke shop snakes among the veg patches? Or an intermittant hose spray? Or bright lights on randomised timers? Or two sticks twisted with an elastic band and rested carefully here and there, so that they jump up and startle the deer?

[Gaina]

What about putting something irresistable in the opposite end of the garden to your flowers? A bit like putting some jam on a saucer away from your garden table so the wasps don't come on your food?

Or you could just bundle her into a trailer and send the little sweetie to me - I've got half an acre she can munch to her hearts' content!

[Kayleigh]

You could try electric fencing used for horses. Not cheep but very affective and you can treat a large area. It works off a car battery and has plastic poles that stick into the ground. Once the deer have touched it once they will not go near it again.

We used to test it was working by touching it with a blade of grass

[Garden Carpet]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

You could try electric fencing used for horses. Not cheep but very affective and you can treat a large area. It works off a car battery and has plastic poles that stick into the ground. Once the deer have touched it once they will not go near it again.

We used to test it was working by touching it with a blade of grass

b****** the flowers.. give me the dear... she is gorgous!

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Garden Carpet

b****** the flowers.. give me the dear... she is gorgous!

I agree I would take the deer any day.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping Roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

[Garden Carpet]

Originally Posted by Garden Carpet

b****** the flowers.. give me the dear... she is gorgous!

I have just come back to this thread and seen the spelling mistake... sorry.. the other was deliberate...she is a dear deer

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping Roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

How did you work that out.

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping Roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

I heard you have to use lion's pee which is quite difficult to get in this country!

Seriously, I don't think there is a foolproof solution to the deer problem other than a high wall or fence which is impossible in my garden (and probably Smartie's).

I think the only way is to plant things that deer don't want to eat. Tragus kindly provided a long list of these in a previous post last year. You can see it here
Flowers that deer don't eat.

However, this is a very limited list - none of your usual pretty "country garden" type flowers. My garden, in July and August is a terrible disappointment with virtually nothing flowering. I have even planted flowers in pots just underneath the windows of the house thinking that the deer would not want to come so close. Even that does not work - they come either during the night or very early in the morning before we get up and nip off all the flowers.

I have spent a fortune trying to dissuade them and have now given up. We get both muntjac and Roe deer and they are all just as bad as each other.

On the plus side, of course, I just love to watch them

Here is a Roe deer eating my Philadelphus on my back lawn



Jenny

[smartie]

The list of plants above contains a few that I have seen the deer eat, particularly in the spring when the shoots are young, but others that I'd agree are pretty resistant. You could add hellebores, snowdrops, agapanthus, sedum (they nibble the young shoots but it always seems to survive).

The main problem is not the flowers, which I suppose in the last resort I can do without, but the fruit and vegetables, which I would like to be able to eat myself We're trying to concentrate those in an area that we can net. Not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but probably the best we can do. Though I might try the urine option to see if it works (or at least I might get Derek to ). How often do you need to renew it, Adam? I'm also quite taken with the idea of trying to make a couple of scarecrows, which might be fun. Don't want to scare the birds away, though

[DebbieP]

What a cutie! We've got muntjack deer that live in a cemetery near us - luckily they just live in the cemetery (it's surrounded by roads) so they don't venture out! My Mum is not so lucky however, she's been getting regular visits from Roe deer, beautiful as they are they do like to munch everything in sight. I got her a deer repeller for Christmas but I couldn't wait to give it to her and she got it the weekend before last! I've had a couple of phone calls since announcing it's working - there's a sensor on it that the deer trigger and it turns on a radio and light, the deer charge off in the opposite direction without hestitation!! I like the idea because there's no way I'd want to hurt them. The cheapest place I could find was Deer repeller £26.95

I guess you could just stand outside with a torch...!

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I agree I would take the deer any day.

Im in the same camp as kayliegh and garden carpet. Id be absolutely over the moon to see deer in my garden.
cheers mark

[juliejam]

what a beautiful sight...I would welcome this with open arms..

Lovely photo..
Julie

[PMG]

I'd love this too - and Badgers digging everything up and coming into the kitchen and scratting up the floor ........ if we ever win the lottery (and I don't do it so there prob isn't much chance!) but if his nibs comes up with a big win then we would move house - or poss build a house in a place where this was poss.......... in fact his nibs would start constructing a Badger sett in the garden of the new house - before he did anything else!!

Pauline

[Cypress]

Jenny that pic is absolutely beautiful!!!

Smartie yours is too, but if it were me I'd plant whatever they like best and sod the flowers, lol!