Public Enemy Number 1

[jackb]

After three years of cultivation it appeared that I would soon be pickling my first batch of olives. Yesterday I was looking at the plump green olives on my Picholine tree thinking: It won't be long now. Today, every one the olives is gone, along with the tips of several branches. The growing tips of my tomato plants have been chewed off, additionally several large green tomatoes have a single bite missing, all of the figs are long gone also.

Today I installed chicken wire around the deck rails to prevent these destructive creatures from poking their head through, and, I placed the two remaining trees with olives back in the greenhouse.

I sprayed a liquid on the tomatoes plants that is supposed to deter almost every type of critter, including deer.

Other than that, there is not much else I can do. There is no hunting within miles of our house and never will be. A large golf course nearby gives them plenty of room to live and breed so they live the good life around here. Every night a herd of deer wander though the property causing destruction at will.

 

[Nyboy]

Sorry I feel the same way about them.

 

[ninnymary]

Oh no! Last year rats ate every single apple on my tree. A few days ago, they have already started. We've only caught one with a trap several months ago. Tried all kinds of bait and nothing. A couple of the neighbors have also set up traps.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

I feel your pain Jack. I don't understand why communities allow such large destructive animals to wander at will, destroying peoples landscapes and breeding prolifically.
They carry Lyme ticks and other parasites and are a road hazard in neighborhoods.
If it were any other animal, say, wart hog, for instance, they would be rounded up in a heartbeat.
Sorry you lost the harvest you've been waiting for.

 

[so lucky]

Could you use electric fencing around the plants you want to protect? What a disappointment after all this time!

 

[journey11]

Oh, that is so depressing! It has always made me absolutely livid that they take just one bite and leave the rest. I've had them do that to watermelon too.

What about electric fence? Those solar chargers are nice.

 

[jackb]

Could you use electric fencing around the plants you want to protect? What a disappointment after all this time!

I have the trees on a deck. There is an incline behind the deck, so they simply stuck their heads over the railing and demolished the tree. I have placed a barricade and chicken wire to prevent them from getting close to the deck. What galls me is that this time of year they can eat anything green. The world is their smorgasbord in summer, they don't need to destroy gardens. Olives straight from the tree are so bitter that you can't eat them. If you did try one you would not be inclined to do it again, they must be cured first. I never thought deer would bother them, as they did not touch the trees last year.

 

[baymule]

I guess a bow and arrow is out of the question....they don't just fall over dead like they do when shot. What about a harpoon? You could tie it off to the deck. I never tried it, but poachers have told me to put a baby bottle nipple over the end of the barrel as a silencer. Venison anyone?

 

[Smart Red]

Oh, how terrible. I would be so angry. Of course, I would never live anywhere else than right here where a few "missing" deer are truly never missed.

 

[jackb]

I sprayed repellent on the tomatoes today. If it works I'll let you all know.