| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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Well, around 3pm yesterday after the dentist appt., I came home and decided to see how the fence was working. Lo and behold, there is Ms. Deer in mid-snack. Seems she just jumped the fence, no problemo. She looks at me, jumps up to the retaining wall, and rams the fence right over. My 100lb. vicious Rottweiller wakes up from his slumber in the garage and comes to say hello to me. I point at the deer and say "You could at least wake up to bark at it for goodness sake!" He gives me a look that says "Not likely." He stares at the deer walking up the hill to their bedding place. THEN he wants up on the hill to kick up dirt and act all tough. Yeesh. Various tomato plants, hot peppers, cucumber, and beans were feasted upon. Hubby gets home and I bitch about the deer. I want a working dog to patrol the hill (with one of those collar systems). No way, one spoiled rotten dog is enough. Deer fencing? Nope, too expensive, and will hinder the view of the hill. I have to give in to those two observations. So he builds me a better fence that we will finish this weekend. I also added two trellises next to the retaining wall to further impede the deer. I mark the plants that were dined on, so I can tell if there is new foraging that I don't catch her in the act of. End of round 1. |
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just their scent? Do certain plants work like that with deer? (The rosebush idea is cool, but the deer still have to approach the garden and my decide that tasty cucumbers are worth a few scratches from the thorns.) On second thought, how about tiger traps with punji sticks and barbed wire at the bottom? |
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dig a moat. |
They don't give a rat's ass about coyote urine, bobcat urine, bloodmeal, scented soap, professional deer repellent, or rosebushes. They have very thick hides, and here's how the eating pattern goes: In a good year, they eat what they want. In a bad year, they eat Everything. One year, they even ate a Yucca bush. Have you ever seen one? Very sharp, tough foliage. There are few things that stop them. One is a very tall fence: 7' on flat ground, 10' on the downside of a hill. Or high fence followed by a wide fence: 6' fence with shrubs behind it, with a 4'fence three feet from the shrubs. Hence, the 4' fence sitting on a 4' retaining wall, followed by two trellises. Hope this works. Or a big or fiesty dog barking its fool head off whenever it even smells a deer. Like a Rottweiler(yeah right), Blue Heeler, or Australian Shepard. They have to be trained not to chase past a certain point, or they will be destroyed by the city. My record with dogs as "outside" pets is not good. I had a list of all the things a dog would not do in my house (sit on the furniture, sleep in a night) and I have let or even encouraged Farro to do all of them. |
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Natty Boh was just not meant to be gourmet beer. I remember when we were happy not to get a rat in one of the cans in a six-pack. |
Well, today hubby was looking out the window, and the whole deer family was feasting on the hill! That's where they need to stay. I don't even care what they eat on my hill beds. As long as they don't jump down into the veggies. We watched them for awhile, Ma, young buck with velvets, another doe, and two really cute spotted fawns. Hubby was standing by the retaining wall just in case they were thinking about it so he could shoo them away. Farro came and started snorting at them, so they left. Tried to get a picture, but I was too late. These deer are a lot like my dog. Mischevious over-eaters. |