My deer don't like fig leaves at all but the bucks like to rub on the trunks.

Scott

Last night a deer topped my tiny fig tree.
Thankfully, there are leaves emerging from the lower trunk, and these will take over....
it's going to be a short bushy plant for a while. I knew I should have moved it onto the deck.
Live and learn.

Josh

I have over a dozen fig trees and we have daily visits from a small herd of deer. They seldom eat fig leaves or branches, though I have seen them take a swipe at a tender shoot in passing. In other words, figs are NOT a favorite food for deer. On the other hand, during rutting season, usually in Oct. and Nov., they will occasionally select a tall young tree, usually about an inch in diameter, and destroy its bark as they rub the fuzz from their horns by rubbing them against the young tree. Usually the tree survives by putting out new shoots the following spring. There is almost no way to protect against this, so I just accept it as a risk of growing figs. The risk of fig trees being eaten or severely damaged by deer is very remote, and not worth worrying about!!

At the Coloma, CA Gold Rush Museum/Park, there is a herd of deer that lazily wait for gold-panning children to climb up and get figs to toss to them. The most famous (I think they call him Norman) is a very large buck who apparently doesn't bother standing up from the time the figs begin to ripen until after they fall and ferment. They don't eat the leaves, but any creature will take the best the environment has to offer. :-)

My tree is slowly recovering after the deer ate the top branches and leaves.

Josh

Deer will try anything. But, after a nip or two on fig tree, the latex discourges them. They move on to my Rhubarb
and really chow down.
I hope, that the Oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves upset their digestion enough, that they give up on my rhubarb also.
Deer steaks are good on the grill!! Fred

Our friends fixed us deer rounds on the grill. They took the back strap (tenderloin?), cut it into rounds like filet mignon, wrapped bacon around them, then marinated them in lime juice with lots of garlic and some cayenne, then grilled them. They were so delicious.

Bon appetit,

noss

Noss.. Sounds more like the tenderloin.
It round and about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Best part, in my opinion. Good cooked on campfire in the woods !!!!

I have deer, I wonder if figs taste good in deer stew.