Photo courtesy of photo fiddler at Flickr.com.
If you can convince deer that your lawn is dangerous, they’ll usually go away and find somewhere safe to get their munchies. Think about how deer see the world: they’re looking for a sheltered place without any predators and many easy escape routes. Put yourself in their hooves – imagine how your yard looks through their beady little eyes, how your bushes smell through their cute/evil little noses, and how your neighborhood sounds to their super-sensitive ears. Then think about ways to make your yard scary to all those senses.
A deer’s sense of smell is particularly strong – if you can make your plants smell scary, that will protect them from getting eaten. One way to do this is to use predator markers that deer are afraid of. When deer get even the faintest whiff of blood, they run away in fear. That’s why blood meal does a good job of repelling deer. Bloodmeal is often found in organic fertilizers – it’s earth friendly and will help your plants grow (in addition to keeping them from getting eaten). The smell of treated blood meal is very mild and few people will notice it. The smell of dead deer can be even more effective. Dead deer are often found in the lairs or big, hungry predators, and even dumb deer avoid those places.
Putting any of these scents in your yard is like hanging up a sign that says “Come here and I’ll eat you.” They’re even more effective than a sign, since the average deer can’t read. You can send the same message by chaining up a guard dog in your yard, or setting up an electronic alarm. Some alarms use loud noises and flashing lights to scare away deer. Other alarms use ultrasonic sound to repel deer. Ultrasonic alarms seem to be silent to humans – we can’t hear the noise they make, but garden pests can. There are even some systems that use motion detectors to fire paintballs or spray water at deer. Those systems can also tag small children and door-to-door salesmen, which is generally a good thing, but they are illegal in many areas.
Photo courtesy of jgoldpac at Flickr.com.
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