Amy in the Garden

It began as long ago as 1923, it seems. Backtalk from deer. First with Bambi’s incessant questioning of his mother, and then on to 1938, when Flag (aka, “The Yearling”) ate Jody’s mother’s vegetable garden.

And now it is 2011, and while my vegetable garden is adequately protected from white-tailed deer, my flower beds have suffered. Not content to eat my flower buds and leaves, they also (oh, the indignity!) use my plants as MATTRESSES, bedding down for the night.

Yes, I have a guard dog. I have MacKenzie, noble, true, and, as the deer well know, confined by her Invisible Fence. They know exactly where that invisible line is that MacKenzie cannot cross, no matter her frenzy. Evidence from last year:

Brazen deer, hysterically ineffective dog.

And even though she failed, we praised her effort, and she grinned with pride. Good dog!

The deer used to consider my yard their equivalent of I-95. I cleaned up after the deer more than the dogs. They strolled down the hill behind our house under cover of darkness, snacked on my rudbeckia buds, “Autumn Joy” sedums, and my ill-advised hostas, and continued on to the reservoir woods across the street.

Then Husband built my beautiful garden, and erected a 7′ high fence of deer netting. Not only were the deer denied access to my vegetables, flowers, and herbs, the fence disrupted their ravage-route, and there was no more evidence of deer for two years in our yard. I was happy.

Then….time passed. The doe(s) begat fawns, and the eating and sleeping on MY land began. Evidence:

This WAS a sunflower plant, about 36" tall, and ready to bud. Now it is a sad stalk, good for nothing, green disappearing into green....

I started to research, acquiring knowledge to combat the scourge. Know thine enemy.

All facts preceded by a double-dash (–) are from this document: “Deer facts White-Tailed Deer, Wildlife Damage Management Fact Sheet Series, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Ithaca, N.Y. ©2001 by Cornell University”

First, the sobering news:

— …recovery of deer populations from only about 500,000 nationwide in the early 1900s to more than 15 million today…

That gave me pause….Do I stand a chance?

My beautiful stand of shasta daisies, brought down by some of those 15 million herbivores.

When the deer are not sleeping in my garden, they are crossing the road. Another fact:

— High populations of deer may result in numerous deer-vehicle collisions and pose a serious threat to motorists. It is estimated that each year in the United States 29,000 people are injured and more than 200 lose their lives in deer-vehicle collisions. More than 50,000 deer-vehicle collisions are estimated to occur in New York each year.

Perhaps I should not complain, then, about this:

Shrub/bed for deer, formerly known as Baptisia. (Formerly pretty, currently squashed.)

And then came the phone call while I was at work: “Mac faced off against a doe and two fawns today,” reported Husband. Apparently our landscape fit every qualification listed below:

— Deer are very adaptable, however, and greater numbers are living in suburban neighborhoods, which have a combination of open lawn, succulent summer gardens, plentiful ornamental shrubs….

I practically rang the dinner bell for them. Next, fact then first-hand evidence:

— In their first pregnancy, does usually give birth to a single fawn, though twins are common in later years if food is abundant.

Older doe + abundant food = twins.

Apparently, things at home then got rather exciting. MacKenzie charged, barking wildly, and there was no Invisible Fence as a spoiler. The doe stood her ground, and then flailed at MacKenzie with her front hooves. An imposing sight:

She looked a lot bigger, all of a sudden.

So Husband called MacKenzie back, and brought her into the house. This time, she was rewarded with both praise and a biscuit, so she was content and proud (but not smiling because she was busy crunching biscuits). The deer continued with their business:

And so how bad is the damage? Cornell has the answer once again:

— Annual estimates of deer damage are reported to exceed $2 billion nationwide, including $1 billion in car damages, more than $100 million in agricultural crop damage, $750 million in damage to the timber industry, and more than $250 million in damage to metropolitan households (e.g., landscape plantings). These estimates are conservative….

And so what is a gardener to do? There isn’t a hav-a-hart in the world big enough for these surreptitious cervines, and so I researched the obvious solutions: hunt, irritate, thwart:

Invite a hunter to sit in your yard all night with a loaded gun?

— …buck-only harvests cannot reduce or stabilize deer numbers. Harvesting female deer is essential to reducing deer numbers and deer damage.

The obvious flaw in that is that hunters prefer antlers (bucks), to does.

Plant the deer equivalent of brussel sprouts?

— No plants are completely deer-proof, and hungry deer will consume plants that have little nutritional value.

Spray some foul-smelling liquid over your plants (eliminating both human AND deer enjoyment of the garden)?

— If deer are very hungry and other food supplies are limited, repellents may not work.

Annoy your neighbors by annoying the deer with lights, water sprays, or sound?

— A variety of frightening devices, including lights, whistles, loud noises, and scarecrows, have been used to prevent deer damage. Audio and visual scare devices are not recommended around the home or near urban or suburban areas, however, because of disturbance to neighbors, possible violation of noise ordinances, and lack of effectiveness. Deer habituate to scare devices after a few days of exposure.

That last sentence was very depressing. OK, the most obvious for last: fencing.

Build a wall? (note all the hesitations and lack of guarantees)

— Rope: A cotton rope fence used with a repellent is particularly useful for preventing deer browsing in flower beds or small vegetable gardens….
— Wooden snow fence: Although not an absolute barrier, a snow fence may effectively deter deer from entering small areas….
— Plastic netting and wire cages: can be used to prevent deer browsing of individual plants or small plantings.
— Electricity: an invisible fence design that combines wire, a power unit, and receiver collars with highly active, properly trained dogs that are able to withstand harsh winter conditions. The system is not a complete barrier, so some level of browsing must be tolerated.
— Permanent woven-wire fences are the best deer barrier. They are used for year-round protection of high-value crops subject to intense deer feeding pressure. These fences are expensive, difficult to construct, but easy to maintain.

Oh, thank goodness for that last clause. For a moment there, I thought all was lost. So if I survive the installation of the woven-wire fence, I won’t have to work hard to maintain it? Small mercies….

In the end, as is almost always the case, Husband and Neighbor had the best solutions of all. The Neighbor (who hunts, and so knows): “Deer move every 6 hours. Just keep getting up and sending MacKenzie out at night!” And Husband: “Don’t worry about it.”

Okay. I will write about my morning glories instead.

Bambi, Flag, and Resident Doe + twins: Peace.

WORDS FROM OTHERS

“He loved to ask his mother questions. It was the pleasantest thing for him to ask a question and then to hear what answer his mother would give. Bambi was never surprised that question after question should come into his mind continually and without effort.”

— Felix Salten, (1869-1945), author of “Bambi. Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde” (“Bambi: A Life in the Woods”)