KEEPING DEER AWAY FROM GARDENS with Chimes???

i posted this in garden talk...but i think it may belong here...since most of us consider deer foes...and (doe's) i couldn't resist!

has anyone tried keeping the deer away with metal large chimes hanging all about the garden areas??

i was just wondering.......i have always loved chimes and my dh hates them so much i have never been able to hang them outside. so......yesterday he finds those old ones that i had hidden from him and as he was complaining about the noise he says he knows what's he's going to do with them. so, i'm thinking i'd be following him to the trash can, but instead he grabs some rope and he heads out towards the garden area. he takes this rope and with some type of navy or boy scout knot hoists it up into a big tree. now...at first i'm wondering if finally he's totally lost his mind. i'm asking what the heck are you doing? so he's explaining to me that he's thinking the sounds will scare off the deer and i'm instructed to get another 10 or 12 of them to put at different levels of the area. he says now this is an organic way to keep away the deer! (OMG)

ok....so you think he's crazy...(he's usually so level headed)...? i guess time will tell...but has anyone ever tried it?

TOBE,
I have not, but I think your DH may need HELP!! lol

I had someone tell me that bars of irish spring hung around helps, but have not tried it.

The one I used was to put up an electric fence, put strips of tin foil on the wire/rope, coat the tin foil with peanut butter, (deer LOVE peanut butter), and then they come up, lick the peanut butter, and take the foil into their mouth, and BAM, they get a BIG surprise!! heheheh. But, hey, it WORKS, provided you have no over-riding safety issues, like toddlers that love peanut butter also.

Regards;
bluelytes

well i know someone that used the soap and it did absolutely no good......other than look really funny hanging off the trees! i supposed the chimes will look just as funny.

although we live in the county, we never had a problem with the deer because they have places of their own. however, i have this new "city" neighbor who gets a kick out of feeding them and then dressing up in army gear and standing out with a bow and arrows waiting to shoot them! so now we have them!

funny thing is he put a veggie garden and a little flower garden this year....is he in for a surprise!

This message was edited May 22, 2006 12:11 PM

I think that is called "baiting" the deer re: veggie and flower garden, lol

Regards;
bluelytes

i just can't wait until he see's what's going to happen. he just doesn't know any better!!

but...he has a doggie and they work really well with keeping them away. darn it!

I've tried Irish Spring soap. Didn't work. I think I've tried just about everything to no avail. Exclusion fencing works. So does supporting your local hunters.

A dog works best. Let us know if the wind chimes work, though. (Can't imagine they would....)

Hmmmm..... A subzone 4A in 6A, NJ...
Interesting. That's a big difference. Are you on a mountain (in NJ??) or what? Enquiring minds want to know. LOL
CJ

Yes, she's in a microclimate in a valley.

equilibrium...thanks for explaining the sub micro climate...i get more questions bout that!

the soap thing doesn't work here either. we lost our golden last year and will NEVER get another doggie, it just broke our hearts too much!

kitty liter works..problem is our kitty was raised in the vermont woods and even when there's 2 feet of snow will go outside and NOT in a box. and it's quite embarrassing when my dh goes around asking people for used kitty liter...so i had to put a STOP to that!

equil: did you get everything planted??? i have been so crazy i'm can't stand it!! we got all our trees and bushes in but still have over 1000 annuals and 60 pots to do. it's STILL TO COLD! i'm dead on my feet, back, knees and arms!!! next saturday our home is on tour for the county and i'm not really caring about getting ready or done for that since i told them when they asked us if we would do it that my gardens are mature until late aug and sept. so deal with it! :)

I have heard that some here go to the zoo and collect cougar poop, and put that around the area. Who KNOWS, but I know the electric fence thing works.

Best;
bluelytes

cougar poop........i'm NOT thinking so..thank YOU very much!! no way!

bad enough i had to change diapers 30 years ago.....that cured me of poop. now my dh can deal with all that. but we don't have a zoo close...or for that matter even a cougar, so, i guess i won't be needing to worry bout that! TG

TOBE,
Sure, if YOU were PREY, and YOU smelled the poop of the person eating YOU would YOU want to hang around in THAT area?? heheheh

Best,
Bluelytes

well...although you have a good point, i'm not knowing where we would find cougar pooh....we'll just have to find someone with a lot more cats!

TOBE,
Well, if needed, will pkg you up some and send it off!! lol We got lottsa mountain lions out here!! heheh

Regards;
bluelytes

Tobee43, Sadly, we have had a yard full of Soleri bells since 1983 in many sizes from huge to tiny, which we love, but apparently, so do the deer. The bells never stopped one deer as far as I could see from their garden browsing. The rabbits also pay them no mind. But the bells have driven a few house guest off earlier than scheduled, or was it my cooking? I once found a sock stuffed in the biggest one after one of my brother-in -law's visits. We put up a deer fence around the part of the property that contains most of our gardens. It seems to keep the deer and rabbits out and our dogs in. Enjoy the bells but don't expect a miracle. patti

A deer herd travels along a path down the side of my house every night. I haven't tried chimes but suspect that deer will get used to them. I've tried just about everything else. Here are the things that worked for me:

A fence.If it's solid like a privacy fence, 6ft high will do.

A faux fence made of deer netting. Mine won't go near that stuff, and won't try to eat over the top or push it down even if it's just loosely draped or stapled to something. Sadly, the netting isn't very pretty but works in a pinch

Plantskyyd (sp?). Works. Doesn't wash off with rain. Only practical for small number of plants. In hot, humid climates must be reapplied much more often than advertised. Looks and smells like you slaughtered a goat in the garden.

Scarecrow. motion activated device to spray water at them. This works. Other than a fence, this is the best method I have found. One $70 device strategically placed to "hit" them where they enter, keeps them out of my entire yard. Downsides: less effective during storms, water use which isn't that much if your hose/connections don't leak, may need to turn it off in daytime to keep from spraying yourself and guests.

Good luck with the deer.

The best thing I've found is a product called Liquid Fence. It's a stinky rotten egg-garlic smelling spray. Only problem is keeping up with it. I usually try to use it at least every two weeks, more if rainy. My neighbors actually feed the deer.... and there are times they are not home for days at a time.... yeah. So when they don't get fed they come to my yard to browse. The previous owners had two dogs who kept the deer pretty distant ~ but now it's tough. I've gotten to know what plants they "usually" won't eat - although the other night they climbed the deck stairs to get to some fresh rose leaves (bush in a container). Grrr.... and let's not get started on gophers, okay?? :o)

Hey tobee... I never got all the plants in the ground. Today we've got someone coming over to help me for a few hours which will help. Other than that, not much I can do other than to wait it out. Just a few more weeks and they had originally told me 6 to 8 weeks and I'm only at around week 3 right now. I still can't use my right hand for much more than typing with the thumb and index finger. I'm backed up by about 500 plants that need to go in the ground and many of them are trees and shrubs. Bummer.

Liquid Fence worked so well for me that the deer around here ate all around it and then waited until the next day to strip all the bark off a few saplings that I had not put in tubes. Liquid Fence must be reapplied. If you rely exclusively on Liquid Fence, it has been my experience they become desensitized to it in a relatively short period of time.

If you can't have exclusion fencing, you might want to consider tree tubes or tree and plant shelters. If this interests you, I can go outside and take a few photos for you.

A fence needs to be 7 ft+ tall and for those of us who live on rural acerage it is cost prohibitive. Dogs work - for a while - but then I find that they make friends w/ the deer and no longer chase them. I no longer fight the fight. I have had some of the best fed deer in the state ......... I no longer provide high priced items on the menu.

I hope to hear that chimes might work .........

Vicki

A fence is not necessarily cost prohibitive. There's a member here who installed a type of fence that is actually quite affordable and doesn't detract from the "scenery". It's really neat. I'll see if I can send a link of this thread to him and maybe he can provide some photos.

I have done the deer fence and bird netting - but because I am solo, putting in fences really is cost prohibitive on 5 acres........it is easier to learn to live with them. There may have been times in my life when I would have done something different when I had a resident post-hole digger........that is no longer an option. I will still be interested in photos.....so thank you, Equilibrium, for the effort.

I sent him a D-Mail. It's the holiday weekend and our weather is good so he's probably outside with his kids which is where I'm going to be shortly.

I'll get you a few photos of tree shelters. Tree shelters you can easily do yourself and no need for a post hole digger. If I forget, just send toss a cyber brick at my head.

OK - I get it - a tree shelter is one thing - and I do an OK job w/ hog wire around new trees until they get tall enough - but the deal here is about everything else - and unless one is willing to safely surround the cultivated area for a garden, you won't have a garden ..... and roses and all manner of annuals ....they just become deer fodder. So - one plants closer to the house (though I have had deer come up on a deck to eat the strawberries) ........and you learn that some plants like ornamental grasses are usually left alone.

There was a time when I put hoop houses made of rebar, bird net, and black pipe over all the bedding areas - that worked fine - but the work involved in getting inside to do the weeding made me realize I would not repeat THAT act again.

Nevertheless, there surely are options not yet tried and some may work well. (I agree that Irish Spring doesn't work, nor does human hair in panty hose, nor does spreading chicken wire over the ground around the vulnerable plants)

I envy your nice weather - we are in the high 40s and I think I will stay in and out of the wet!!!!

Thanks, Vicki

I will post a few pics of my deer fence, although you have to get the sun just right to have it show up. I used 10' T-posts, no post hole digger required. I did the 3 acres myself. If you look closely in this pic, you can see the row of fenceposts in the background. The fence is essentially invisible from 20' away. You can see the company pics at www.deerdefence.com

This message was edited May 30, 2006 3:08 PM

Here is what it looks like if the sun hits it JUST right.

...and the best shot of all, the miserable hooved rats OUTSIDE the fence.

Here are a few photos of tree shelters-

And another brand-

Another size but same brand as last photo-

Another brand-

Homemade style-

What happens if you forget to tube a plant around here-

Thanks for taking the time to post all those pix. Obviously it works for you and that is great.

I am not able to drive in 10' T poles - lord knows, I have tried. It just isn't something that I am physically able to do .....getting 10 ft off the ground is a bit of a challenge.........again, though, I appreciate the presentation and I am certain there will be folks here who CAN make use of this.

My problem is NOT the trunk - but rather the leaves on top which get chewed to nothing....tree tubes are good to keep line trimmers and mowers from hurting the bark ...and rabbits won't chew either (not that I have that problem). I use hog wire the way you have used chickenwire to encase trees when they are small ..........so we are on the same sheet of music there.

thanks again..............

Why yes, the growth extending out of the tubes has often been referred to as treesickles or leaf flavored push-ups for deer. They do get the leaves sticking out but they can't strip the bark over winter. Every little bit helps.

THAT is cute - treesicles! I have had problems w/ deer rubbing the velvet off their horns against the truck and thus damaging the bark - in that case - a couple of the metal T poles -- 5 ft tall - can be strategically placed so they can't get their rack of horns next to the trunk.

Wannadanc, if you have the time to wait, plant pines or cedar (thuja green giant would be quicker) every 15 to twenty feet and when they are big enough you can staple the 7' deer fence to the trunks. I pruned the outside limbs off this living fence to create a good surface for attachment. So from our side it looks fine. This is how we attached 3/4 of our deer fence. We only used some posts and a very short run of a wooden fence by the front of the house for aesthetics. We determined where the fence would run by where we already had trees. We then ran electric around the bottom the discourage the rabbits. It has worked great. We have now planted some new trees for future expansion of the fence. I know this is not practical in the short run, but while the trees are growing you can dream of tulips and lilies. But I can imagine your frustration of not having help to deal with the heavy jobs. I would be hard pressed to get much done without help. We didn't use 10' poles rather two short ones which after driving the first one in the ground, I attached with plastic ties the second post to reach the 7' height. We had some old posts to use and I couldn't see trying to stand on a ladder either. The fence has been up 3 years and is holding up fine. Patti

Where were you when I moved here 30 years ago??? LOL It never occurred to me then -----and at this point in my life, I am well along down the highway - maybe some fast growing laurel would work - or Paulownia. Yes - too soon old and too late smart! BTW - back then I DID have help!

BBRO,
Since you already HAVE electric running, just elevate it to about waist high, put about two inch strips of foil in it, coated with peanut butter. The deer LOVE peanut butter, and will pull the foil (attached to the electric fence) into their mouth and BAM!! Deer dont like being around YOUR garden no more.

WANN,
Put up an electric fence, cheaper and MOST effective I ever seen.

Regards;
bluelytes

Blue - I would rather snivel, wail, and moan than solve the problem - doncha get it? LOL But thanks for trying !