Deer Away?

Expert suggestions for animal- proofing plants

By Jennifer Hafner

Deer do not know boundaries. But they know food when they see or smell it, so it's not uncommon for them to sample the vegetation in backyards.

There are lots of deer repellents on the market ­ from hot sauce and moth balls to Deer Away, all meeting with some success. But one of the newly-discovered repellents has been in our kitchens for centuries, and may prove to be the most effective yet.

Wildlife specialists with the extension office at Colorado State University have found that a plain, old chicken egg can be as effective as a barbed-wire fence when it comes to keeping deer away.

The theory behind its effectiveness is that deer recognize the egg smell as another animal, but don't know what it is, according to Perri Walborn-Swartz. Chaffee County Extension Director for CSU in Salida.

The egg repellent is quite easy to whip up. One breaks open an egg, removes the "hard piece," as Walborn-Swartz describes it, surrounding the yoke and mixes the egg with equal part water. For instance, a half cup of egg would be mixed with a half cup of water.

The mixture is than placed in a spray bottle so it can be sprayed on plants, shrubs, flowers and trees.

Walborn-Swartz said it's important to remove the hard piece surrounding the yoke so it doesn't clog up the spray bottle.

Walborn-Swartz has even tested the egg mixture on her own yard. When she was having problems with deer in the spring, a year ago, she sprayed her yard with egg. The deer haven't returned.

While the deer appeared to have smelled the egg, people shouldn't notice it, she said. And it's not harmful to plants.

But the egg mixture may not be effective forever, Walborn-Swartz warned. "After deer get habituated to something, it doesn't necessarily scare them," she said. "If you spray (the egg) again and they come back, you need to try something else."

That something else could be a wire mesh fence. Norman Denoyer, owner of Denoyer Flower Garden & Nursery, said a fence is the best way to keep deer away.

One could either surround the perimeter of one's yard or garden with an eight-foot-tall, wire-mesh fence, or surround individual trees with a somewhat smaller ­ about six feet high ­ fence, Denoyer said.

Garden netting could be used to protect flower beds and plants. "You can hang it (netting) loosely over plants, or you can erect a small framework to hold it up," Denoyer explained.

There are chemical controls available as well. Some for sale at Denoyers are Ropel, Repel and Deer Away. Repel is particularly effective against deer feeding on pines and bigger trees and shrubs, Denoyer said.

But Denoyer advocates a physical barrier above all other controls. Chemicals won't prevent antler damage to trees, which can be fatal, especially to smaller trees, he said.

In the early fall, bucks will rub their antlers against tree trunks to remove the velvet. Later in the fall, during mating season, they'll do the same, this time to relieve aggression, Denoyer said.

"That's why you need to protect trees with a physical barrier," he said. "I've lost more trees due to rubbing than from anything else."

There are plants, trees and shrubs that deer supposedly don't go for, but Denoyer has seen exceptions to most all the items on the so-called deer proof list.

Austrian pines are an example. They're generally considered deer proof, but "in our nursery, they're the first thing they go to," he said. The same goes for lilacs and some other varieties of pines.

There are only a handful of plants and shrubs Denoyer has never had problems with. Those include potentillas, barberry and alpine currant, all shrubs; most junipers and spruces.

Denoyer said the same controls for deer can be used to reduce elk feeding and tree-rubbing damage.