Mmmmmm, venison! Goes great with fried rabbit. :-)

Cheers,
Michelle

LOL, I'm sure we could come up with some recipes. Sage would be good with both :-)

I have two $*@!!% does that sneak in through the cat tail swamp and were in the new orchard, nibbling away Sunday at 5:30 am. I stung one with a pellet gun, they jumped the deer fence. Monday at 5:32 am, I looked out and saw them both sneaking back out through the cat tail swamp. Monday at approx 9:00 am, I sprayed all the trees in the orchard with egg. Tuesday, they came in and nibbled about 3 leaves, and didn't come in today.
Take qt water, two raw eggs. Whir up in blender / food processor until egg is completely disintegrated. Dilute to one gallon, and spray all over everything the deer are nibbling.

David, how long does the spray work? My problem is that deer visits here are kind of a random event, which makes it hard to plan for.

Bonnie

I make a great venison gravy. :-) Mmmmmm.

Bonnie, the spray lasts for a while if the weather is dry. Otherwise, it washes off.

Someone needs to tell the deer what they aren't supposed to eat. My deer resistant leatherleaf viburnum ($$$$$) was apparently delicious. They never used to come into my yard, either.

- Michelle

Ain't that the truth?! When I went back out yesterday, I found they ate about 60% of the leaves off of my favorite heuchera 'Creme Brulee', which is listed as deer resistant also. Grrrrrrrr!!!!!! It wouldn't be so bad, except that is the same one that was eaten on earlier this spring, though that time I believe it was a rabbit, since I saw his prints in the snow a few feet away.

Bonnie

At the outer edge of the subdivision is a ravine where the playground is located. It seems like a strange location, but it makes for good sledding in the winter. Today, on the way to the feed store to buy the wire fencing to protect the apple tree, there were two deer down there in broad daylight. These deer are definitely getting bolder around here!!!

Bonnie

:-) I've got a few ideas...

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer

They're baaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that winter has arrived, the deer have come back down out of the mountains. Saw 7 of them strolling through the front yard yesterday morning. Last night, we got an inch and a half or so of snow, so I could see exactly where they went. Would you believe there were hoofprints on the front porch a couple of feet from the front door?! They must be getting pretty hungry, to be so bold! When I was out shoveling the walkway, I saw a couple of areas in the main bed that looked like someone had been nosing around. Sure enough, they found a couple of plants that were still green under the 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground. One was a Heuchera, no surprise there, they love to nibble those, but the other one was a Gaillardia, which they never touch, which is why I'm thinking they must be hurting for food.

Anyone else having deer visits?

Bonnie

Knock on wood, but only one small doe has actually gotten in the yard this winter, and nibbled the dead rose leaves off the climbers. Last year, with similar conditions of deep snow, there were a dozen in sight, in or out of the yard, all the time, 24/7. They've beaten a path down outside the deer fence.

So far so good.