Keeping out the rif-raf

[MrB]

Cats, Dogs, how about Deer!?! Ok, I don't actually have any trouble with cats or dogs (I don't have any) but in the fall and winter the deer come down and jump into my backyard to snack on my juniper hedges. They don't touch any of the other plants, just the junipers. (go figure ) Anyhoo, up until now they've only been an annoyance with the droppings they leave on the lawn after their late nite snack (they don't eat much so...) but now with the pond I'm worried about them getting a drink and punching holes in the liner. I don't care about a little water but ya'know.Here's what I've looked into.

Raise the fence. Mine's a cyclone and 5 feet tall. They say that deer don/won't jump an 8 foot fence because they can't see up high and it scares them. Great idea! Nope, city law says no fence over 6 feet.

Blinky red lights. Supposed to make them think it's a predator and scares them away. Doesn't work.

Motion lights with sound affects. Yeah, the neighbors are gonna love that.

Minty smelling plants. They don't like the smell so stay away. Hmmm, not sure about that.

So, does anyone have a suggestion?

 

[mrsclem]

Item # 188005 Model # DO5600-6
Deer Off 6-Count Deer Repellent
178 Ratings
3.5 Average
63%Recommend this
product
Community Q&AView Now

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Deer Off 6-Count Deer Repellent


I have had good luck using these. We have 10-20 deer that are on our property at any one time. Canisters contain blood meal.

 

[MrB]

Item # 188005 Model # DO5600-6
Deer Off 6-Count Deer Repellent
178 Ratings
3.5 Average
63%Recommend this
product
Community Q&AView Now

• 
• 
• 
• 

Deer Off 6-Count Deer Repellent


I have had good luck using these. We have 10-20 deer that are on our property at any one time. Canisters contain blood meal.

Hmmm, interesting. Is that all you use? Anyway, I read some of the 1 star reviews and the thing I found most in common was that the deer were eating there before the "Deer Off" was staked. Makes me think they knew from experience that it was safe so they weren't spooked. For $15-20 bucks, certainly worth a try. Thanks

 

[mrsclem]

This year I ran fishing line around the edge of the woods with the metallic tape used to scare off birds. Hoping to block their most used paths. Any place I have placed the Deer-off canisters, I have had no damage.I had to chase off a young buck today while putting up the fishing line!

 

[RobAmy]

If your only concern is the liner, then I have deer in the stream without liner issues, dogs for that matter too. Riley is in the stream about 40 times a day

 

[MajorDan]

My sister in Palmer, Alaska, had a nice pond off her front deck. The moose found it and visited often. The moose loved to stand in it but punched large holes in the liner climbing out. After many leak patches and deterents they sadly gave up the pond and filled it in. Be glad it is just deer.

 

[tallyjakepack1]

Repels All is great! Works for us.

 

[addy1]

I have a herd of around 15 deer right now hanging out, the numbers vary. They snack on my pond lilies they stop to drink, I have had only one get into the pond. She got trapped under the anti heron net. They walk my stream snacking on whatever gets their attention. So far 9 years later, no damage to the liner.

They have yanked the lilies out of their pots while enjoying the snack of leaves.

 

[cas]

I only have a 4 foot fence and that use to keep the deer out of the yard. Last year I woke up to a deer at the edge of my pond. What I did (and it has worked so far) is placed fishing line with a couple of streamers attached, 2 feet above the fence and it has stopped the deer from jumping the fence. Maybe you could add some height to your existing fence with some fishing line.

 

[JamieB]

Looks like you should string fishing line with flashy deterants up to 8ft+, and plant mint along the back fence. I don’t know that mint will work, my dogs do that job here.

 

[TAHOE]

one of these work pretty well

 

[MrB]

one of these work pretty well

Ya mean shoot Bambi!?! Actually, I'm ok with that but the neighbors might not approve. Kids you know.

 

[addy1]

We just let the deer eat what they eat, the groundhogs and rabbits eat what they eat, living in harmony, sort of. Don't have the time or desire to try to fence them out. To much area. And we caught a lot of ground hogs another one comes and replaces it.

 

[MrB]

Hey thanks everybody.

 

[MrB]

Okay, sounds to me like the best thing to do is for me to raise the fence up to eight feet with some fishing line and dangles. Hopefully the city won't care. Then put some deer be gone repellers in there too and hope that cures the problem. Guess I could hang some more fishing line with dangles around the pond. Yeah, maybe I'm just being paranoid.

 

[brc]

What I do for deer is to make a pepper spray, and hose down the plants I want to protect with it. I haven't needed to do anything else at all. It's incredibly effective, and they take the hint instantly.

To make the spray, I'll start with a good handful of crushed red pepper, and sometimes chopped up ghost / scorpion peppers from my garden (not truly needed as the red pepper is more than enough, but those will make more spray per pepper).

The pepper gets soaked in a jar of rubbing alcohol for a day or ten, shaken a few times, and then strained. I'll then take some soapy water (with dish soap) and rinse the peppers again, and mix in the alcohol. Most of the liquid at this point is soapy water, since alcohol is probably not great for plants if it's too concentrated.

This concoction goes into a garden sprayer, which I use on my ivy and whatever else they're bothering.

Obviously you don't want to be downwind of the spray when using it.. And it's better to have it come out like a stream than a fine mist!

 

[MrB]

Hey sounds good and all natural too! Does the alcohol seem to hurt the plants any? Um, I've got Juniper's and they're pretty tough so probably no worries.

 

[TAHOE]

Hey sounds good and all natural too! Does the alcohol seem to hurt the plants any? Um, I've got Juniper's and they're pretty tough so probably no worries.

shouldn't, use 91% and it will evaporate almost immediately leaving behind pepper oils

 

[brc]

Also, by the time it's all mixed up, it's probably more like 20% or less, instead of 91. At that point, the dish soap is what's holding the capsaicin in suspension. The alcohol is just a quick way to separate the spicy stuff from the peppers.