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OKLAHOMA OUTSI DE What to Do When Deer Come to Dinner By Allan Storjohann


uring the heat wave of 2012 we made every effort to keep our fl owers, shrubs and trees alive. For the most part we were successful. However, it wasn’t long into the crisis watering program that we began to notice fl ocks of birds, colonies of gophers and moles, families of deer and a menagerie of other refugee animals seek- ing water, nourishment and protection from the heat and drought. Initially, it was entertaining to watch the deer close to the house, but it wasn’t long before the plants around our home began to be at risk.


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As deer populations grow and housing devel- opments expand into their habitat it only stands to reason that they will eventually encroach into residential properties. During years like this one, when the understory plants have dried up and fruit is sparse, we will see marked increases in the num- ber of deer that come to our homes to feed.


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So how can we repel or discourage them from eating our expensive landscape plants? The fi rst tactic I would recommend is to invest in a six to eight-inch, chain-link or stockade fence. Be- cause an adult deer can easily jump over a six-inch fence or wall, most experienced gardeners and com- mercial orchard and nursery growers highly suggest a height of eight inches. If you have a shorter fence, then it may be necessary to set up an electric fence wire outside the chain-link fence at “nose height” for the deer. By applying some peanut butter to the wire initially you can trick the deer to get a taste of the electricity and train them to go somewhere else for their evening snack.


If a fence is not allowed in your development, or simply is not in the budget, consider spraying your small trees, shrubs and fl owers with a commercial, prepared deer repellent such as Deer Away, Hinder, Ro Pel, Repels All or even one of the bottled, Big Cat urine products. Almost any unfamiliar smell repels deer; particularly the ones that make them think


they are in danger. Human hair, human urine and concoctions of all kinds of garlic, rotten eggs and hot sauces are commonly recommended by garden- ing sources. The only problem I have with most of them is the “yuckiness” of preparation and distri- bution. Hanging bars of aromatic deodorant soap in each small tree or large shrub works fairly well unless the deer are extremely hungry or the soap is left out too long. Almost all repellents will need to be reapplied every week or so, and it is very ben- efi cial to alternate products or concoctions so the deer do not get used to the aroma and disregard it. One fi nal solution for gardeners plagued by deer browsing is to replace the plants that deer crave with others that will cause them to turn up their noses. Remarkably, dozens of highly attractive and easy-to-grow plants classifi ed as deer resistant can be found in nurseries and garden centers. It’s un- clear what it is about some plants that turns off the deer, but a long list of wonderful shrubs, ground- covers and fl owering plants have been tested by


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