They Pulled Up My Root Crops

There is heavy deer presence in my backyard, so I assumed that's what kept eating the tops off of the root crops that I planted this fall. I checked this week to see if any roots were still growing even without the leaves, and every one of them had been yanked out of the ground. Would deer do that, or do I likely have another type of animal coming by?

I wish they would learn. Dear deer (or other animal), "If you yank it out of the ground, it won't be there for you to eat the leaves later." 🤦

Looks like deer damage to me.

The way deer eat will pull plants right out of the ground including the roots.

If the deer don't like the taste they will just spit it out and browse something else.

Anne Miller wrote:Looks like deer damage to me.

The way deer eat will pull plants right out of the ground including the roots.

If the deer don't like the taste they will just spit it out and browse something else.

They need to learn after the first one that they don't like the taste instead of pulling up the whole row! 😑😤😂

Good to know it was likely just deer, though. Thank you. I have plans for redoing my deer fence, but it wouldn't be other critter-proof, yet.

Oh yes, deer will absolutely will do that. Turnips & radishes are frequently planted for deer food plots.

Well there is still almost a month of open season on deer.
Can setup a wildlife cam to be sure and find out what times they show up.
Animals are a good protein source in the food forest.

Mike Barkley wrote:Oh yes, deer will absolutely will do that. Turnips & radishes are frequently planted for deer food plots.

That's interesting! I wonder if that works better in certain areas. They've never touched my radishes, and this is the first year they've decimated the turnips. The leaves of sweet potatoes and watermelon vines are bigger favorites of the deer in my area.

I need to find someone else who hunts. The friend who has hunted on our property hasn't done so this year.

Nikki Roche wrote:

Mike Barkley wrote:Oh yes, deer will absolutely will do that. Turnips & radishes are frequently planted for deer food plots.

That's interesting! I wonder if that works better in certain areas. They've never touched my radishes, and this is the first year they've decimated the turnips. The leaves of sweet potatoes and watermelon vines are bigger favorites of the deer in my area.

I feel the deer like what grows where they live.  What their mother showed them that was okay to eat.

When we moved here I read that deer like apples so I bought apples for them.  They would not even touch them.

We do food plots and use a deer seed mix that has turnips, my deer won't touch the turnips.

My deer will try to eat watermelons, the fruit, though they have not figured out how to eat the watermelons. They roll them around trying to nibble at the skin.

They like chives.and roses.