When ground growing goes wrong

[ShadyStump]

This year my lilacs in the yard lost their leaves fast enough that the deer didn't have a chance to start eating them as fall moved in. I might actually get some flowers in spring.

 

[BrightsideB]

The man who’s arboretum I would volunteer at would lay one or two dead large sticks against the tree sort of angled and upright. Out of the hundreds of trees I saw one that a deer messed with. I was curious if others have tried this and if it works for them. I have deer but they don’t come up close enough to my tree’s.

 

[BrightsideB]

Would airsoft guns work? Would that be illegal? I’m talking about the plastic bbs that wouldn’t penetrate.

 

[Gabler]

Would airsoft guns work? Would that be illegal? I’m talking about the plastic bbs that wouldn’t penetrate.

Most states have some sort of animal cruelty law, but using a mere irritant to dissuade animals from severe property damage would probably not fall within the category of animal cruelty. Be sure to use biodegradable BBs.

 

[BrightsideB]

Most states have some sort of animal cruelty law, but using a mere irritant to dissuade animals from severe property damage would probably not fall within the category of animal cruelty. Be sure to use biodegradable BBs.

When I was a kid my dad set up a motion sensor attached to a radio that would play loud rock n roll when it was triggered next to the pond we made. I no longer had missing fish lol. But we’d hear it go off every other night if we were awake. It would also trigger a flood light.

 

[Dav4]

My wife took these pictures today from her office in the basement. A bigger stag came out of the dark last night while I dumped coffee grounds on the compost pile… just stood there staring at me from maybe 10 yards away. I honestly got the feeling that he was contemplating leaving hoof imprints on my forehead if I moved toward him… so didn’t .

 

[ShadyStump]

Would airsoft guns work? Would that be illegal? I’m talking about the plastic bbs that wouldn’t penetrate.

Most states have some sort of animal cruelty law, but using a mere irritant to dissuade animals from severe property damage would probably not fall within the category of animal cruelty. Be sure to use biodegradable BBs.

Most states have some level of protections for property owners taking action against nuisance wildlife. Small game that usually includes killing them, but big game something like airsoft or paintballs are usually ok. DoW doesn't like red paintballs, though. They start getting calls about injured deer, and it's twice the pain in the ass for them. I've heard of people around here getting a meager fine for poaching the deer in their yard garden, but others getting the same fine for red paint.
Situation dependant of course. If you can prove the animal had done damage or was endangering someone, and call DoW immediately about killing it, you can often get away Scott free with killing it.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Erghh! Been sitting in the same spot for two years, then this morning I find someone had a midnight snack...

 

[Gabler]

That fortunately looks very salvageable, albeit a major nuisance.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

That fortunately looks very salvageable, albeit a major nuisance.

Ya, just ripped the ground grown roots free, rubbed all the way up one side and broke a few branches. I was going for a bigger tree so it'll just be a set back. I still want to punch that deer in its cute little face

 

[Srt8madness]

11 month update, this tree survived but with mediocre growth. Meanwhile another one planted in the ground is 8' tall.

 

[shohin_branches]

A guy in my club puts corse gravel, they're 1"-2" rocks, around his bonsai benches. He can walk on them but the deer don't like to walk on it so they go around. Now he doesn't have amateurs pruning his trees anymore.

 

[ShadyStump]

A guy in my club puts corse gravel, they're 1"-2" rocks, around his bonsai benches. He can walk on them but the deer don't like to walk on it so they go around. Now he doesn't have amateurs pruning his trees anymore.

That's brilliant actually. I'll have to remember this.

 

[Mikecheck123]

The white tailed deer population in North America has exploded since European colonization. Current population is 1000 times larger than population prior 1490. Main reason, we killed off the wolves, cougars, Lynx (northern), bobcat (Southern), and otherwise disrupted the normal predator prey relationships. While you and I can't really do much about it, there eventually needs to be something done to change deer population dynamics.

In Illinois, there are a couple experimental plots showing that rare plants can only be restored if deer are excluded. One study area is in the woods adjacent to Oakton Community College, local BNuts should drive by the fenced area in the woods on campus. Especially in spring the wildflowers blooming inside the fence are remarkable. Nothing was planted, merely deer were excluded.

Reintroduction of wolves is most likely impractical, too much social resistance. (farmers will blame every dead chicken and lamb on wolves, even if its coyotes in the area). Coyotes do prey on fawns, but not efficiently enough to make a difference at this point.

This is probably comparing apples to oranges, but when I was growing up in Kansas, it was neat to see a deer!

But now in the northern VA suburbs, the deer just live in town like stray cats.

 

[Gabler]

This is probably comparing apples to oranges, but when I was growing up in Kansas, it was neat to see a deer!

But now in the northern VA suburbs, the deer just live in town like stray cats.

There's nothing to manage the population in suburban areas, plus they grow desensitized to humans and come closer to human habitation, rather than staying out in the woods and cornfields, far away from our gardens. I'm having a similar problem with city squirrels. I never had a problem with the dozens of squirrels hanging around when I lived in the sticks, but in the city, they're a menace.

 

[shohin_branches]

I never had a problem with the dozens of squirrels hanging around when I lived in the sticks, but in the city, they're a menace.

City squirrels are a whole other monster
This is the time of year when they steal my fertilizer baskets and bury walnuts in my bonsai pots