Five Alternatives to Deer Fencing

No Normal Fence Can Keep a Hungry Deer Out of Your Yard

Deer fencing is something that many people have tried. Very few persons using standard fencing solutions have had any long term success. In my opinion to be successful at fencing deer out of an area in your yard or garden that you want protected you must look at and understand why the deer want to enter that area.

Deer will only come into your yard if there is something there attractive to them. That means something edible that they cannot find in other nearby areas. So what our goal should be is keeping the deer away from the items in the garden or yard that you want to protect while not hurting or frightening the deer in any harmful manner.

I have my own thoughts on how to "fence out deer" and they are as follows. Since the deer are usually looking for food there is a "natural" way to keep them out. We have to provide them with an alternative source of food and at the same time make the food they have been eating or trying to eat unattractive.

If we purchase a small bag of a molasses grain mix, such is used for horses we can provide the deer with a small reward for avoiding the area to be protected. If we do that each night they will get in the habit of not going to the protected area. The amount we give them is very small each night but is so good they will so prefer that to the other food anyway.

As a second additional measure make the food source they originally wanted to eat unattractive we do the following things. Take two egg whites and mix in a one quart spray bottle. Spray the mixture of water and egg white over the edible part of the vegetable or fruit they have tried to eat. Deer hate the taste and smell of egg white and it keeps them away.

As a third protective measure and in addition to the egg white spray put ¼ inch by 2 inch slats in the ground about every two feet all around the area you want protected from the deer. Every late afternoon paint a mixture of well mixed white paint and linseed oil onto the top 8 inches of each slatted stake that is stuck in the ground. The deer hate the smell of the linseed oil and paint and this keeps them away from the area.