The topic came up on my radio show that deer pressure is a real problem for many who find themselves suddenly growing a plot of vegetables. The spirit is willing but the fence is weak. You may have ray, a drop of golden sun, but doe, a deer, a female deer wants to eat the fruits of your labors. A barrier to thwart rabbits is much easier to establish than one that will deter a deer. The barrier would have to be substantial resulting in a sizable investment and effort. An 8 foot tall barrier is not practical or acceptable in many neighborhoods and deer repellents can become expensive and annoying to continually apply. If you do apply just make sure the breeze is not blowing in your direction or you will smell like garlic and putrescent egg solids all day. Putrescent is a nice and important sounding way of saying rotting and decay. You can try noise cannons intermittently fired or play recorded sound effects but in most suburban neighborhoods that can easily get you kicked out of the association.
The end of the line. The buck stops here.
A caller phoned into the show recommending a fish line. Stringing fish lines around the garden or the yard can frustrate or deter deer. If they run up against a barrier that they can feel, but they can’t see, it’ll confuse them. It’s the end of the line and the buck stops here. One line isn’t going to do it. It takes two to tangle. Maybe three. An important caveat to share is that there are many articles to read warning of the dangers of fish line to wildlife particularly birds. One side of the conundrum says don’t use fish line as a deterrent. It is harmful to wildlife. Another side of the argument says one of the tricks is to pick a low test fishing line. If you pick a line meant for deep sea fishing and catching hefty tunas they will probably spot the line and avoid it. Ten to 15 pound line is probably best and tie it ankle height and at 3 feet and at “nose height” for an average size deer.
The other trick is to add aluminum pie pans. When the intruding deer toes the line the rattle of pie pans might cause Bambi to move his intentions to another neighborhood.
