keep deer from nibbling on tree bark/branches?
we've done logging in the llamas winter pasture & removed all
the pine.
we had a good bit of the branches left for the llamas & goats
to browse, but, of course, they've suddenly discovered there
are sugar maples in the pasture (which they never bothered in
the 5 years i've winter pastured them there). i seem to recall
something that tastes nasty that could be sprayed or painted
on the trees. am i imagining things or is there such a thing?
i can put mesh fencing around the trunks, but that won't keep
them from eating the branches. i can't move them to the other
pastures until the ground thaws enough to refence.
any ideas?
lee

enigma wrote:
keep deer from nibbling on tree bark/branches?
we've done logging in the llamas winter pasture & removed all
the pine.
we had a good bit of the branches left for the llamas & goats
to browse, but, of course, they've suddenly discovered there
are sugar maples in the pasture (which they never bothered in
the 5 years i've winter pastured them there). i seem to recall
something that tastes nasty that could be sprayed or painted
on the trees. am i imagining things or is there such a thing?
i can put mesh fencing around the trunks, but that won't keep
them from eating the branches. i can't move them to the other
pastures until the ground thaws enough to refence.
any ideas?
lee

Small trees, you have to surround with fence or netting. Deer can only
browse up to about 6 feet but bucks can bring down trees several inches
in diameter rubbing their antlers. Local park in reforesting a field
wrapped new trees with wound plastic and guyed them, maybe losing 10 to
20 percent to buck rubs.

Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in
:

enigma wrote:
keep deer from nibbling on tree bark/branches?
we've done logging in the llamas winter pasture & removed
all
the pine.
we had a good bit of the branches left for the llamas &
goats
to browse, but, of course, they've suddenly discovered
there are sugar maples in the pasture (which they never
bothered in the 5 years i've winter pastured them there).
i seem to recall something that tastes nasty that could be
sprayed or painted on the trees. am i imagining things or
is there such a thing?
i can put mesh fencing around the trunks, but that won't
keep
them from eating the branches. i can't move them to the
other pastures until the ground thaws enough to refence.
any ideas?
lee

Small trees, you have to surround with fence or netting.
Deer can only browse up to about 6 feet but bucks can bring
down trees several inches in diameter rubbing their
antlers. Local park in reforesting a field wrapped new
trees with wound plastic and guyed them, maybe losing 10 to
20 percent to buck rubs.

yes, llamas can browse up to 6-7' too. they stand on their
hind legs.
most of these maples are 4 or more inches across, but llamas
& the stupid goats will peel & eat the bark, eventually
girdling the trees. the maples that are big enough to tap
start getting flaky bark, & they never bother those except to
nibble low branch tips.
considering how much yummy pine there is on the ground right
now i don't get why they suddenly noticed the maples.
oh well, i'll keep the stupid goats tied outside the pasture
& put mesh around the trunks, i guess. i was hoping for a
nasty tasting spray recipe though.
lee

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in
:



yes, llamas can browse up to 6-7' too. they stand on their
hind legs.
most of these maples are 4 or more inches across, but llamas
& the stupid goats will peel & eat the bark, eventually
girdling the trees. the maples that are big enough to tap
start getting flaky bark, & they never bother those except to
nibble low branch tips.
considering how much yummy pine there is on the ground right
now i don't get why they suddenly noticed the maples.
oh well, i'll keep the stupid goats tied outside the pasture
& put mesh around the trunks, i guess. i was hoping for a
nasty tasting spray recipe though.
lee

Pine needles have an astringent in them that makes them less palatable than
the maple. About the only critter I know of that works on pine bark is
beaver, and they prefer other trees over pine.

"Don Staples" wrote in
:

"enigma" wrote in message
. ..
Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in
:



yes, llamas can browse up to 6-7' too. they stand on their
hind legs.
most of these maples are 4 or more inches across, but
llamas & the stupid goats will peel & eat the bark,
eventually girdling the trees. the maples that are big
enough to tap start getting flaky bark, & they never
bother those except to nibble low branch tips.
considering how much yummy pine there is on the ground
right now i don't get why they suddenly noticed the
maples. oh well, i'll keep the stupid goats tied outside
the pasture & put mesh around the trunks, i guess. i was
hoping for a nasty tasting spray recipe though.
lee

Pine needles have an astringent in them that makes them
less palatable than the maple. About the only critter I
know of that works on pine bark is beaver, and they prefer
other trees over pine.

llamas & goats love pine. not so much the bark, but the
needles. they do strip the bark on the branches they can reach
though. i'm sure maple tastes better though
lee

I live in the country and used to have deer problems with my small
orchard. Now, I have 4 dogs and after poop scooping the yard I spread
their droppings around the trees, year 'round. It solved my deer
problem. . . they stay away.



my On Jan 30, 2:51*pm, enigma wrote:
"Don Staples" wrote :

I've never had any luck repelling deer. I understand it takes persistent
application of things like rotten eggs dispersed in soapy water. Some
stuff is sold that does not work. I had a neighbor buy fox urine. I
told her it would not work because I've used it as a masking scent while
deer hunting. Same with skunk.

In the dead of winter, deer will eat anything. They may starve to death
from malnutrition but their stomachs are never empty. Physical barrier
is only real solution. Netting can work well but a big herd might get
them rammy and they can knock it down.

enigma wrote:
keep deer from nibbling on tree bark/branches?
�we've done logging in the llamas winter pasture & removed all
the pine.
�we had a good bit of the branches left for the llamas & goats
to browse, but, of course, they've suddenly discovered there
are sugar maples in the pasture (which they never bothered in
the 5 years i've winter pastured them there). i seem to recall
something that tastes nasty that could be sprayed or painted
on the trees. am i imagining things or is there such a thing?
�i can put mesh fencing around the trunks, but that won't keep
them from eating the branches.

If course you can, with larger trees use turkey wire and simply set at
a large enough diameter that the deer can't reach the lower
branches... I have quite a few trees where I've done exactly that...
just make a ring of the turkey wire around the tree and stake to the
ground in a few spots. If you need to mow around the trees hammer
four 4' metal posts in and use chicken wire set about a foot off the
ground so a push mower will fit under (chicken wire works fine too).
Since putting up these fences I've had no deer nibbling my trees.
I've tried spraying all sorts of deer repelant, none do anything
except necessitate my needing a long hot shower each time with plenty
of scrubbing to remove the stench, and a lot of extra laundry. Turkey
wire, chicken wire, and metal posts are cheap (much less expensive
than deer repelant), and easily removed and reused (can't reuse deer
repelant).

He
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