The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121641   Message #2937371
Posted By: maeve
30-Jun-10 - 01:03 PM
Thread Name: BS: Defeating Deer in the Garden
Subject: RE: BS: Defeating Deer in the Garden
Easy enough to find the video with Mr. Google; I was more surprised by the poor judgement of the folks watching than by a doe with a young fawn attacking the dog (and threatening the cat.) I noted that the cat first rubbed its scent on the hidden fawn (bound to worry the doe) and that the doe signalled the fawn to drop and freeze just before she went for the dog. We can't know what triggered that reaction since the unleashed dog was out of camera view at the time.

When wild and tame worlds collide there will be such scenes.

We've had deer problems decrease over the years; partly because many of the older deer have been hit crossing the road, and partly because we've fenced what we could and changed the landscape to feel less safe to the deer. We still had some munching going on in our young orchard this winter and early spring because we weren't able to be there after the house burned. If we can hang on and protect the orchard another couple of years, the trees should be able to withstand a few nibbles.

A deer fence would be my choice if we could afford it. The neighbors who insisted on feeding the deer have moved. We'll see what happens with the critters that have been conditioned to expect food from humans.