Owly055
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- Feb 28, 2014
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I've lived here for about 25 years now, and deer have been the bane of my existence in the summer. They do the "graze through", mindlessly cropping down my garden, and I've resorted to everything short of tall fences. My favorite was a cannot I once built that ran on bullseye powder, with an electric fuse to set it off, and a remote control from a cheap toy. An electric window motor, and a laser pointer allowed me to aim it from inside (leg level, just dirt and sand), and a security light told me when they were here....... the light lit in the house, not in the yard. A loud boom and deer scattering everywhere, was a satisfying result, but they soon learned to graze during the day when I wasn't here.......... I taped over the sensor that told the unit that it was night, and wired it to a washing machine valve connected to a rainbird sprinkler........and that worked fairly well. Then I had problems after first frost........ they would dig up my strawberries, and destroy the patch. My solution to that was a fan mounted in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket, set on top of a couple of old tires, and a large plastic garbage bag duct taped to the top.... it would inflate and shake menacingly......raring up like a bear... that was quite effective for awhile until one night when I was in town...... My neighbor was in pursuit of a skunk, and went through my yard ........with his 12 gauge...... My system scared the heck out of him and he shredded it with the 12 gauge...... what I wouldn't have given to have had that on tape!!! Amazingly he confessed to me...... a week or so later or I would never have realized what shredded my bag..... A good laugh! Needless to say this is a gun friendly town... of about 8 people...... we all own and use guns.. it's no big deal.
I drifted away from gardening for a number of years, but this year I'm doing hydroponics, and some soil gardening, and the problem is back. I've had to resurrect my security light system........... I shoot all deer on sight with my high powered pellet rifle........enough to hurt, but not kill...... I've live trapped 8 raccoons so far, and let's just say I "relocated" them...... a very effective program.... they never seem to come back ;-) 2 years ago it was 33 for the summer.
Any suggestions on the deer would be appreciated........ I've had them try to chase me out of my own garden! The "final solution" is effective, but frowned upon............didn't the Indians teach the pilgrims to plant a deer under each hill of corn? I don't grow corn, but that sounds like a good idea ;-)
H.W.
I drifted away from gardening for a number of years, but this year I'm doing hydroponics, and some soil gardening, and the problem is back. I've had to resurrect my security light system........... I shoot all deer on sight with my high powered pellet rifle........enough to hurt, but not kill...... I've live trapped 8 raccoons so far, and let's just say I "relocated" them...... a very effective program.... they never seem to come back ;-) 2 years ago it was 33 for the summer.
Any suggestions on the deer would be appreciated........ I've had them try to chase me out of my own garden! The "final solution" is effective, but frowned upon............didn't the Indians teach the pilgrims to plant a deer under each hill of corn? I don't grow corn, but that sounds like a good idea ;-)
H.W.