On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 17:30:40 GMT, "Mark. Gooley"
wrote:

Well, spraying the peppers/garlic/eggs stuff seems to be deterring
the deer for now, but we've been getting some heavy rains here of
late (not complete coverage, but where they are they are nasty:
relatives of an acquaintance were in a major accident due to one
of those storms, dead wife and husband in intensive care). I'm on
the highest land for a mile around (in this part of N. peninsular
Florida, that means 100-110 feet) but my roses are in clay/sand
flatwoods soil, and any local dip in the land can have standing
water for hours after a good rain or for a week if rains repeat.

(Consoled myself for dead roses by, yep, buying more. A hardware
store in Orange Park has a not-bad selection of own-root old roses
for $15 a bush, a buck off that if you buy more than one; the woman
in charge of their nursery department has a web page I stumbled
across via helpmefind.com: http://www.antiqueroses.net/ )

I'm assuming that the rains wash off the anti-deer stuff, so it's time
to make more, my style:
3 ounces or more of dried hot chili peppers
quart of denatured alcohol (don't waste good booze)
half a cup or so of ready-minced garlic (in water, not oil)
4 eggs or more
Soak peppers in alcohol for a couple days (capsaicin is way more
soluble in ethanol than in water). Put peppers and alcohol in
blender and try to liquefy the mix. Add garlic and eggs and enough
water to nearly fill container and again try to liquefy the result.
Strain through fine mesh strainer. Dilute to 2 gallons in sprayer.

Some pundits say that egg solids are in fact the most repellent
component of this mess. I dunno. And maybe straining the ingredients
separately would help.

Fences seem terribly expensive. The Muncy nursery near Sarasota,
Florida has a high fence that looked to me (on my sole visit a couple
years ago) to be made of plastic or plastic-coated-wire mesh, rather
delicate looking, possibly something like the stuff on this site:
http://www.bennersgardens.com/bg/product.asp?pageCode=1 .
Over a buck a running foot just for the fence material, posts not
included, and what roses I have in the ground aren't all within a
nice tidy rectangle: some would have to be moved.

High-tension Australian/New Zealand style fence, electrified or
not, would be another possibility, but not much cheaper. I'm told
that a simple electric fence will 1) likely get broken by deer and
2) deer sometimes slip between wires and endure the slight shocks
for long enough to get through.

Still haven't tried ultrasonic noisemaker: still haven't assembled the
kit-form one I have.

Anyone out there have experience with fences to keep out deer?

Hi, I have a deer problem far beyond what most have, my property joins
the National Forest, and deer are abundant.

Over the years I tried everything, including an 8' fence around my
garden.(which was a problem from the start).

The simple, cost effective solution was an electric fence (1 wire).
Now let me make it clear from the beginning. this is NOT something
that will hurt a child or one of your pets. The fence charger I have
was designed to keep a dog in a given area.

I have a single wire just outside my yard fence (my roses are on the
fence). Many times in the past my roses were wiped out, but not once
in 3 years, since I put the wire up. Once they touch it, they won't
be back- -I have seen them touch it, and leave in alarm.

Deer also love apples, I have a single wire running down between the
row of trees, with one crossed in the middle- -no more deer problems.

It works, period.

Have a nice day=Rogerx
Mark., zone 8b