Male deer cause damage in another way. Besides eating tender reachable green shoots, they rub their antlers along the trunks and limbs of trees to shed the velvet which accumulated during the summer. This strips off the bark and breaks branches. They also trample the ground underneath the trees, while marking their territory with urine. Once the deer removes the velvet from his antlers, he continues to polish them, thrashing his antlers up and down leaving his scent on the tree. This further tears the bark and breaks branches.

There are many remedies available to the homeowner. Planting those plants that are not attractive to deer is probably the most cost effective, least time consuming, and most esthetically pleasing remedy. But, remember that if deer are hungry enough and food is scarce enough, deer will eat almost anything. No plant is completely deer resistant and deer change preferences from place to place, year to year, and in response to various weather conditions. Don’t mix deer resistant and deer preferred plants in the same area. Deer will trample the deer resistant plants while consuming their preferred plants.

There are many products that use bitter taste or foul odor or both to repel deer. These are not as obnoxious to humans as to deer because deer have many more scent receptors than humans. Some of these products have been developed by the large timber and paper companies to protect their seedlings. Most contain inedible egg solids. All of them are labor intensive, need reapplication, and in a bad year could be ignored by the deer. These products are washed away by snow and rainfall. Some of them contain an anti-dissicant or a wax to make them more permanent. These products can be found at garden centers.

Soap scraps, especially scented ones such as “Cashmere Bouquet” and “Irish Spring,” tied to lower branches have been used by tree nurseries and arboreta to scare deer with strange man-associated smells. A sock filled with moth balls, or saturated with cheap cologne has the same effect. Coyotes are the most feared natural enemy of deer, so their urine scent in either powdered or liquid form creates the illusion that coyotes are present.

There are several inexpensive paper and plastic wraps on the market with which you can wrap the trunks of trees to protect them from deer rubbing. These wraps must be removed in April or you will harm your tree.

There are various fences you can use. A four foot fence is adequate for a small garden since deer do not like small places. Use a six foot fence for a larger area. These fences should be slanted thirty degrees away from the center of the garden, because deer fear entanglement. Electric fences are only moderately successful because in winter the deer hair gets so thick that they don’t feel the shock. A stronger jolt might harm children. Electric fences should not be used in urban areas. All fences have a problem with aesthetics. Some even overpower the landscaping. They also can violate Village ordinances.

A unique remedy, the “Waterblaster,” is a device that scares deer away. It is attached to your garden hose and has a motion activated sensor that can sense a deer or other intruder thirty-five feet away and fifty feet to each side and then instantly releases a short barrage of water to startle and repel. It automatically resets itself. Of course, it is only useful in temperatures above 32 degrees.