I have declared war on Bambi

My garden is being eaten by Bambies.

string bean plants eaten
cowpea plants eaten
runner beans eaten
christmas lima beans eaten
squash tip eaten
apios americana tips eaten
strawberry leaves eaten
yacon, eaten (but not dead yet)
ragweed we were gonna experiment with for fiber too
They are eating my beefy resiliant bean grex!

The good news is that my Bambi family doesn't like radish greens. They haven't been touched. Too spicy maybe?

15 years ago I planted a patch of corn. Deer ate it before it reached 6 inches tall. I replanted, deer ate it. I replanted. Deer ate it. Before the next batch of seeds sprouted, I searched the interwebs and found a claim that a hot pepper spray would deter deer.

Insert evil laugh here. So I made some hot pepper flake spray used for bug spray something like this one here. I sprayed it on the newly sprouted corn. In a few days, 3 plants in the patch had been munched on. The rest remained whole!!!

Eureka! a solution.

If it rained, or I watered then I would spray the stuff again on the next day. I did this for that one growing season.

No deer ate in my garden for over ten years.

Last summer we got new neighbors. They did not mow the back 2/3 of their acre. There were assorted leftovers from the last renters, sprouted uneaten chicken feed, and grasses growing upwards of seven feet tall. Not necessarily all a bad thing for a permie's neighbor, lots of diversity of buggies. And the infiltration of rainwater that used to sheet off the large bare chicken yards. I'm certain they felt justified as half my back garden went to weeds last summer. Scads of lambs quarters, yum. Ridiculous amounts of ragweed. Achoo!

I'm certain our front yard isn't up to their standards of decapitated grass. In truth, I have tried to improve the front since they moved in. But it is a permie place.

I knew trouble was coming when a family of deer began to bed down in those tall weeds next door. I did not know then that the other neighbors had begun to feed the bastards. Sigh.

I made up some hot pepper spray and sprayed it around on almost everything. I have another batch steeping right now for after the next rain. I may giggle myself to sleep tonight.

If needed some garlic added to your evil brew will provide a little something extra.

And if needed, let me say that Bambi sausage is excellent!!

My long leg rats like the biodynamic beds best of all.

Good luck.

Peace

Isn't it funny how we ladies love our little furry friends right up to that moment where they mess with our hard work... then it is open season.

I wish you well on your hunt. lol

8 foot wire game fence with T-posts.  One of the cheapest to install and has kept the dear out for neigh 20 years now.  They cannot see it so when they jump, they don't jump high enough and get tossed back like jumping into an invisible forcefield.  Only takes one attempt to learn it's a no-go area.  

And the farmers down the road installed this and thought to upgrade it by putting bells and ribbons along the top.  They had dear inside within the hour because the dear aren't scared by bells or ribbons and use it to see where the top of the fence is so they know how high to jump (if ribbons are the thing, then a 14 foot fence is needed instead of an 8 foot)

Good advice r_ranson. The other enhancement is depth -- deer can jump high, but not long. Adding a chest-high obstacle course a few feet outside the primary wire has been known to work.

We moved to Bambi`s backyard. We coexisted.

we gave up when the feral hogs moved in.

Now I enjoy watching Bambi and her mother quietly mulching on what ever they found.

I am sorry you folks are having problems ...

Electric fences, string fences, fishing line fences, zig zag fences, and double fences, they are your friends.

Much less new damage. But they keep tasting stuff. Sigh. I'm hoping for soaking rain on Thursday and Friday.  We need it.

Time to make the 4th batch of pepper spray.

My printer is a Bambu.  

Make sure that you do not eradicate my 3d printer.  

They look very similar, in text.

Mine does not eat string beans.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Much less new damage. But they keep tasting stuff. Sigh. I'm hoping for soaking rain on Thursday and Friday.  We need it.

Time to make the 4th batch of pepper spray.

Did you know that it's legal in most states to make your own self defense pepper spray, that you intend to spray in the face of someone who assaults you?

It surprises me.  

I've been gifted with three (3) daylily blooms to enjoy this year.  I think Bambi was just too lazy to take another step into the flower bed to get them.

And no roses this year, pinched down fairly low --- again.

I did save a nice spring flowering plant, called woodland phlox,( low growing with a blue flower ) by lifting from the bed and potting it up then placing pots on my deck, Bambi hasn't learned to climb stairs -- yet!!!

One other thing that I have tried with about 80% success, peeing on everything I want to save.  I mostly wait till full dark, my next door neighbor has known for years that I'm kinda strange, but not  wanting to do any damage to her vision, I wait till dark.


Best of luck with Bambi and friends

PS, one doe here has had twins for the last three years!!!


Peace

Deane Adams wrote:
One other thing that I have tried with about 80% success, peeing on everything I want to save.  I mostly wait till full dark, my next door neighbor has known for years that I'm kinda strange, but not  wanting to do any damage to her vision, I wait till

This works, I believe.

Lots of volunteer sunflowers this year. The deer are eating them and ignoring my corn. Mostly. Try planting sunflowers and see if that distracts the deer from the other stuff.

Last winter we had snow - we don't every year, but when we do it is heavy and wet to start with, and frequently gets rained on making it even heavier. I have a lovely P. dulcis bamboo patch. I did a lot of work pruning out damaged culms. Interesting how easily I can use "Bamboo" to make a barrier against "Bambi". All those poky "branch" bits seem to do the job of discouraging them until they find a different weak point.

Unfortunately, it means I'm down to a single gate into said garden. I need to build better deer and bunny proof gates... some day!

We live in the woods, and have families of deer, who call our place home. Actually, I guess, since they were here first, we call their place home. But, being where we are, and on 29+acres, we can and do often go out and do some target shooting, kill squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, opossums, and the occasional armadillo. There's enough shooting going on (not daily - just enough to keep 'em on their 'toes'), that the deer are a bit wary of the crazy two-leggers in the big log box. We also feed them, at the back end of the property (yes, it's 100% legal, here). Feeding them back there does two things for us: it distracts them from the things I'd rather they left alone (though they do still go into the barn and help themselves to hay, when there's no forage, in the dead of winter - but, I'm ok with that, because it contributes to the other thing...), and it keeps them around, for hunting season. I do love me some good Bambi steaks, roasts, burgers, stew, & chili!

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:Much less new damage. But they keep tasting stuff. Sigh. I'm hoping for soaking rain on Thursday and Friday.  We need it.

Time to make the 4th batch of pepper spray.

One thing that might help as an extra deterrent is hair twine. I save the hair from my hair brushes and spin it into rough twine. I then use this to add more string to our trellises, or dangle around a bunch of grapes or pear we really want, or around my tomatoes.

It doesn't always work, but it does help.

(It had worked for years until our neighbors started feeding the deer. They removed most of their deer habitat and started feeding the deer so they could see them more. Suddenly, the deer loved our place a lot more. We had the habitat and diversity of food that the deer wanted.)

Deane Adams wrote:If needed some garlic added to your evil brew will provide a little something extra.

I have heard that garlic will deter deer. This year I'm going to save my babbington leek bulbils (which are very garlicky flavoured) and spread them around my chinampa. Those is in an area outside my deer fence and garden hedge and suffered badly last Autumn. So far this year although the deer have been in there they haven't done too much damage....just a matter of time I fear though!
We used to get more problems with deer, but when we got our second dog (an entire male) we didn't see more damage until quite recently.

Carla Burke wrote:There's enough shooting going on (not daily - just enough to keep 'em on their 'toes'), that the deer are a bit wary of the crazy two-leggers in the big log box...
I do love me some good Bambi steaks, roasts, burgers, stew, & chili!

I wish I could get our Bambi to be afraid of us but she just laughs in my face. My children are a little more successful at trying to scare her- she moves a little faster when it's a pack of smaller two leggers making crazy noises. When I try to chase her away, she just looks at me and lazily strolls behind a tree to wait me out.

She's eaten all the leaves off my grapes and all the josta berries and every single baby apple off our favorite tree and keeps mowing the strawberries and raspberries. It's amazing the damage one deer can do. It's not like there aren't other things to eat around here. Her mom and the new twins stick to the woods in the backyard and the blackberries that line it. I don't know why she is so much more bold and fearless.

I think I'll give the pepper spray a try before she kills everything in my yard.

Jenny, my deer gives me the finger and suggests that I go perform the nasty on myself, when I try to run them out of the yard!!!

Keep laughing, it mostly helps!!

Peace

PS: they tend to call me rude names if I go so far as to offend them, I have really thick skin, so that does brother me too much.  What does upset me a little is they tend to take turns dropping a deposit near my basement door!!!  I think they may be leaving me a message!

Nancy Reading wrote:

Deane Adams wrote:If needed some garlic added to your evil brew will provide a little something extra.

I have heard that garlic will deter deer. This year I'm going to save my babbington leek bulbils (which are very garlicky flavoured) and spread them around my chinampa. Those is in an area outside my deer fence and garden hedge and suffered badly last Autumn. So far this year although the deer have been in there they haven't done too much damage....just a matter of time I fear though!
We used to get more problems with deer, but when we got our second dog (an entire male) we didn't see more damage until quite recently.

I have babbington leeks and elephant garlic planted around most of my apple trees, and it doesn't seem to stop them from munching on the tree. But, they seem to avoid my strawberries more if they have chives/leeks planted amidst them. I think the garlic-ness needs to be really close/touching the plant you want to keep safe.

I also noticed that my deer leave my plum tree if it is covered in sweet cicily. Apparently, they don't like sweet cicily, either. Maybe it's the licorice-like flavor?

My smile for the day - all my permie friends with hanging plant baskets full of .... garlic. Forget the flowers that usually inhabit that eco-system. Let's go for deer deterring garlic hanging from our fruit tree branches. I have just the spots for a few...

It's been a couple weeks since I sprayed any pepper spray. I have the next batch brewed, but it might rain tomorrow. If it doesn't rain, I will water some of the gardens and spray near dusk. It's unseasonally cool and overcast recently so I can water before the areas are shaded without danger of burning the crops' leaves.

Bambi is around less, there is no noticable new damage. The deer feeding family knocked down their house ( last month?) to make way for a new mobile home. The new footings will be poured this week. As soon as the home is in place, I'm sure they'll be feeding them again. Grumble. Will keep up the spray into winter. Definitely next spring too.

Oooh! While I wasn't looking, the forecast went from 30*/* chance to 73*/*. Yay! We're currently in what call a seasonal drought. It lasts most of July and August. Sometimes longer.