The Master List--How To Deter Deer

[rangerdanger]

I'll put down all the ways I know to keep deer from munching on your pot plants.
The BEST way is to use a combination of as many of the following ways as possible.

-Build a cage around each plant consisting of 4' high chicken wire and re-bar or other sturdy uprights. To keep rodents out, wrap plastic wrap around the lower 2' of the cages to prevent rodents from climbing the chicken wire.
-Scatter unbaited mousetraps around, upside-down. When stepped on the mousetraps snap and jump.
-Ask a barber shop for a days worth of floor sweepings. Make little bundles of hair with string and tie these, like X-mas ornaments, from the branches of the plants. You can also use bits of soap.
Use perimeter barriers such as:
-String bailing wire (real thin wire available at hardware stores) around the perimeter. Using existing tree's/brush or other sturdy uprights such as re-bar or drapery rods, string the bailing wire at 3 intervals--1', 2.5' and 4' high.
-Boards: hammer 3" nails all the way into 1" thick wooden planks. Place these boards around the perimeter with the points up. Do not cover these up as they could injure people and you'll get into LOTS of trouble if they do.
-Predator urine: you can buy this at large gardening outlets.
-Feed your dog meat the night/morning before visiting your grow site. Bring your dog and when there feed your dog half a bran muffin. Herbivores such as deer, rabbit's, etc. can tell the shit/urine came from a meat-eater.

Like I said, the KEY is to use as many of the above methods as possible. The bailing wire, boards with nails and unbaited mouse traps will annoy the fuck out of them. The shit/piss from meateaters will make the site unattractive to deer and other plant eaters.

All the ways I've listed are PROVEN methods of protecting your plants. I've used all of them; they work.

I've harvested mondo buds when everyone else in the same general area was moaning about how deer decimated their crop.

P.s. Few things will protect plants from starving deer.

[herbgrower]

Do you burn your wire b4 using it ?
:animbong:

[Mermaid]

Herb that was the best lil trick ya taught me & I will be using that with my new grow this year! :D
...when ya live where there are LOTS of deer and tame ones at that ....well they can be your worse enemy with ANY garden! Lost so many tomatoe plants & flowers over the years till I fenced it all in. Even with regular fencing they still tried!!
:animbong: JG

[rangerdanger]

Do you burn your wire b4 using it ?
:animbong:
No, should I?

[Max Rockatansky]

Hey Rd Herbgrower posted in another thread here that if ya burn the wire first, it will lose it's "shinyness"

I think the trick is not so much for animals as to keep it from being spotted by people.

To get the whole story check the threads here in outdoor growing, its here on the boards.Does make sense to me though.

http://emoticons4u.informationalot.com/cool/cool33.gif

M R

[rangerdanger]

I would spraypaint the chicken wire brown (lower half)and green (upperhalf) before using..
As for the bailing wire, the kind I bought/used wasn't shiny and it blended in quite well (in fact, when a bear had messed it up and my friend re-arranged it without my knowledge, I walked right into it).

[Heath_Bogenreif]

So am I wasting money with building the exclusive deer only discotheque down the street from my grow? ;)

[rangerdanger]

No Heath, I think it's a great idea.
Who knows, you might pick up a few bucks.

Ok, you can hit me now.

[herbgrower]

Painted green and brown wire would still attract my attention if i saw it in the bush,and it seem's like a waste of time,just my 2 cent's! :cool2:
:animbong:

P.S Burning the wire get's rid of the galvanising ! ;)

[rangerdanger]

The diameter of chicken wire is very small.
Gone over lightly with paint from a spray can turns it almost invisible in the woods.

You know, you could always buy UNgalvanized bailing wire, like i always did.
It has no shine and is a dull grey color.
This will save you time and the hassle of burning the wire.

[herbgrower]

Ok,here's the thing,wire of any sort,type, or descripton will not move in the bush when a wind is blowing. :thumbsup:
Burnt wire will "blend" in better and will NOT cast a shine when hit by the sun's ray's,dull or not it will still reflect !!! :eek:
Chicken wire is good for keeping chicken's outta ya crop ! :D
:animbong:

[rangerdanger]

Look, I am trying to help people grow marijuana. Chicken wire cages work; I've used it
them for decades. This is not something up for discussion. They work.
The bailing wire I used did not reflect light any more than burnt wire. Also a FACT. Don't infer that I'm lying.

[herbgrower]

Yeah,me too,i'm here to grow and help people! :thumbsup:

However,burnt wire look's like it has been in the area for decade's as it look's and is rusty,but still work's. :cool2:

Personally i really don't see how chicken wire is going to keep out a 600 pound(?) hungry deer as it just ain't strong enough,sorry,but that is a FACT ! :thumbsup:

And i really don't want to upset the RangerDanger apple-cart and fan club,so,you are entitled to your opinion and i am entitled to mine ! :D
:animbong:

[herbgrower]

Oh yeah,while i'm still on my soap-box,one more thing,don't 3" nail's sticking out of a plank whether it be visible or not pretty much = a "booby-trap" ???? :confused:
:animbong:

[Mermaid]

...."yeah that would constitute a booby trap to me" :rolleyes:

[rangerdanger]

No, I don't consider a board with nails in it, in plain view, a booby-trap. A person would just step over it.
Nor do I consider an upside-down unbaited mousetrap a booby-trap.

As I stated before, few things will keep a starving deer away from your pot.
But chicken-wire cages along with the other methods I mentioned, used together, will make deer that have a choice stay away from your pot.

[herbgrower]

Do you also paint sign's saying,"This way to my crop!" ???? :thumbsup:
And the chicken wire you are using must be like 20 gauge! :cool2:
:animbong:

[Hill_billy]

This is not something up for discussion.....Whoa! since when is anything posted on a public board "not up for discussion"?
I'm gonna' discuss this with ya'll,now.
I use chicken wire with success. I haven't burned or painted it, but I think either has its merits. Painted wire would also attract more attention than burned rusty, too, "IMO"... BUT, chances are, if either were spotted, it's gonna make little or no difference. (If they found your cages, they found your crop)
The advantages of chicken wire over field fence(hog wire, we call it) or bailing wire(tie wire) would be..
#1 it is pretty small guage, which is a little harder to spot
#2 the small openings will deter rabbits, skunks, ect. Smaller vermin, along with deer and larger game.
#3 it's pretty pliable. Easily bent/formed around about any shape. Which also makes it vulnerable to being ridden down, so it does need to be fastened up securely.

I've used bailing wire in the same way as fishing line. Tied it up between bushes, when an animal walks into it here, it rattles/shakes the brush over there. This works to a limited degree, I think they need to be pretty wild for this to be effective. Gentled/semi-domesticated deer won't be bothered much.."IMHO" Just as deer familiar with dogs aren't going to be detered by dog hair or dogshit.

On to the nails and mouse traps. I love the mouse trap idea, but personally, I wouldn't set them "upside down". Maybe 50/50, half to pop and jump, half to pinch there little toes.(rabbits,skunks,fox,ect) The nails through a board, I have a problem with. I've not commented on it before, (but since it now isn't up for discussion). Anything could step on them and become impaled on a nail. I don't like it. Horses, cattle, "kids" don't always watch where each foot is landing when roaming the woods.
I wouldn't want to be the responsible party for injuring anyone. And you wouldn't want to be the responsible party if it were my grandson or my livestock.

[herbgrower]

Will pull my head in now,thank's Hill billy. :thumbsup:
And thank's for the added info,we do have deer in certain area's over here,not in the area where i live,but my main worry is with possum's,'roo's,wallaby's and the occassional feral pig ! :eek:
:animbong:

[rangerdanger]

"Not up for discussion" is a phrase used to indicate that the subject is not debatable--that it's been proven.
It has been proven to me that chicken-wire cages, and the other methods I have used, are successful. Will it keep all deer away in all cases? No, and I never said it would.
I have harvested buds in the same area where others have lost their crops to deer. I also detected the presence of deer in the area so I know they were nearby. Yet my plants remained unmunched.

The whole point is to make a garden unattractive to herbivores.

I don't state anything as fact unless it has been proven.

By painting chicken wire I mean a light sprayof paint, to take the shine off off the metal and make it blend in.

Also:
People out hiking in the woods generally wear hiking boots. Ergo, unless someone was walking around in the brush barefoot or in moccasins, and who is either doing this at night without a flashlight or is blind, will not be injured by a board with nails in it.And again, some apparently haven't read my post, at least where I recommend that the methods I mentioned, when USED TOGETHER, WILL deter deer.
Why would I lie?

If you don't want to use the methods I mentioned, then don't.


P.s. I do owe a debt of gratitude to deer for teaching me about "topping".
One season many years ago I had a plant that was munched on by deer. And I noticed that on most branches that had been bitten off grew 2 branches.
P.p.s. My grow partner that year was convinced the reason the deer munched our plants was "payback. We came upon a wild blackberry patch and ate out fill and filled every container we had with them to take home.
"We ate their stuff so they ate our stuff" he opined.

[Hill_billy]

hey ranger, I don't think you are lieing. I don't think that you would purposely stear people to do things harmfull or give ill advice. BUT, different folks have different methods, that work, and differing opinions or ideas. They, most likely, aren't lieing either. Just different experiences.
To be honest, last year was the first time in over 20 years OD experience, that I ever had to fence my plants. I've always been able to deter them with less conspicuous methods. (cougar urine mostly, and a good dog). At the first signs of deer/elk in my immeadiate area, I circle the area, leaving generous squirts/sprays on a few stumps, logs or bushes. Always looking for a protected spot, where rain and weather won't dillute the effectivness any sooner than neccessary. I've used 'polymer beads', soaked in urine, inside of a sock, hung nearby for "slow release."
I also think this adds to the effectivness of fishing line or tie wire. The predator scent puts them in a natural state of higher awareness, making them more cautious of strange movement.
An aggressive dog to chase them outta' the area a time or two is pretty effective too. They may be able to outrun him, and they may know that they can out run him, but they don't like being ran. Like you said, "make the garden unattractive" to them. "Uncomfortable" works too.
A gut-pile, or dead carcass, can be an aid. I'm not sure if it works because it attracts carrion eaters and predators(coyote, bear, ect) or if its the odor, or the fact that a dead relative is nearby, but it too,seems to work pretty well.
Now, these methods have worked for me, in my area, for my particular situation.(But I never steal their blackberry's) ;)
They may not work worth a hoot in Oz, on Wallaby, "roos" and feral pigs. I've absolutely no experience and very little knowlwdge of those critters. I can certainly see where pigs could destroy a fenced plot, without ever realizing there was chicken wire present.

[Heath_Bogenreif]

I stole a bears blackberry once. Nothing but appointments for future trash raids and some girl bears numbers I had already slept with.

http://www.sessionware.com/images/blackberry_7230_large.jpg



Also in our neck of the woods we plant near cornfields because deer prefer corn over weed and corn stays in the field for the whole weed season.

[rangerdanger]

Billy, I'm aware that folks have different ways to deal with situations.
I KNOW, from decades of experience, what works.
Not everything that works maybe, but ways that will greatly reduce herbivore's munching your pot plants.
I am not trying to dissuade people from doing what THEY have found that works.

"Not open for discussion" is like if someone said the earth is flat, or I have blue eyes (they're not); that is not open for discussion because it is an accepted fact.

Like I stated, the bailing wire I have used did not reflect sunlight--I walked into it several times even though I knew pretty much where it was.

Boards with nails: they will not hurt animals. They will annoy them. There are a few other ways I know of to deter animals but I won't post them because there IS a danger they will injure/kill small animals or harm people.

I know a dead deer will keep other deer away but I think that's a bit extreme.

The most troublesome animal I have dealt with (after people) is bears.
Bears as a general rule do not eat pot plants.
But if the plants are in a male bears territory, he just may destroy them, because he doesn't want people in his territory.
I had a guerilla garden once, in a perfect site. Everything was ok until late Aug/early Sept. which is mating season.
A bear repeatedly attacked my plants. He wouldn't eat them, just destroy them (knock them down/trample them).
I was at a loss at what to do, since it's hard to keep out a determined 300-pound omnivore.
A friend recommeneded a old-fashioned steel-jaw bear trap, but they cause so much pain that wasn't an option, plus they can harm people and pets.
Then I came across a handy-dandy device that, unfortunately, is no longer made.
It's a battery-powered fluorescent lantern with 3 settings.
One setting is a standard on/off switch.
The second setting activates a motion detector; the light stays off until motion is detected then it goes on for 30 seconds (and stays on as long as something keeps moving.
The 3rd setting is the same as the second except that in addition to the light, a high-pitched low-volume "siren" sounds.
I have 2 of them, and I first placed the lanterns in the 2 paths in and out of the garden area. Then came the boards with nails, then the mousetraps.
The first nite I had this set-up in place I noticed the next morning by the tracks it left that the bear had entered the site, past the lanterns, past the boards, through the bailing wire and turned around and left when the mousetraps started snapping at it.
As an experiment, 1 by 1 I removed everything except the lanterns.
But by them the bear associated the lantern light/siren with the wire, nails and mousetraps. By wtaching the tracks, the bear would turn around and leave when he encountered the lanterns. After a week he avoided the area altogether.

I did forget 1 additional tip. Again, it may not be very effective by itself but used in conjunction with other methods will help.
It's a branch from a tree, suspended horizontally across the path by brush on either side of the path, about waist level.

[marymaryquitecntrary]

a board with nails in it isn't a booby-trap, ranger? and you're always suggesting newbies should grow on federal land ... what happens when a federal employee steps on your board with nails in it?

[rangerdanger]

a board with nails in it isn't a booby-trap, ranger? and you're always suggesting newbies should grow on federal land ... what happens when a federal employee steps on your board with nails in it?

I stated that the board with nails in it should be IN PLAIN SIGHT.
Plus, those nails won't puncture hiking boots.

Also, the site should be so remote that the is little or no chance anyone would just be out there "walking around".

I'll amend what I recommended: after driving the nails through the board, hammer the pointy end of the nails to dull them. It's not the sharpness of the nails that deters animals, it's stepping on an uneven surface.

[BrotherBuzz]

If ya want to be darn sure no critters come around use urine and sprinkle around perimeter of crop not on it, all depends on how often you visit. That hate humans and i see a ladygrower maybe was asking about how to keep deer out, urine of a male would be more useful i would think. Wouldn't want to attract deer now would we, no i am not trying to be vulgar.