Where The Deer (If Not The Antelope) Prey

Our garden is usually a therapeutic place "where seldom is heard a discouraging word." But one exception is when deer from a nearby woods come by for a late night buffet, something that happened again just two weeks ago.

Having had no success with deer repellents, I tried something different this year, a virtually invisible "fence." It's simply three strands of fishing line attached to steel posts at each corner of the garden.

I got the idea from a neighbor, a native West Virginian, who assured me it works for him. In my version I drove the four steel posts into the ground at an angle, as you can see on the photo, and attached small strips of tinfoil to the lines so no one would accidentally walk into them. I cut the strips from aluminum pie pans and attached them to the line, giving each a little twist to keep them in place (the upright posts you see inside the garden are for the tomato plants).

This experimental barrier has actually worked for two weeks now. I still find some occasional deer droppings in the area around the garden, but so far the deer seem to be spooked by the fishline. According to someone else I spoke to, having any fence at an angle or spaced apart also throws off their depth perception and discourages them from jumping over it, which they could easily do.

I was first concerned that the enclosure would make it hard to get in and out of the garden, but that's quite simple. Just bend over a bit, raise the middle fishline and carefully step over the lower one. Mission accomplished. And since we mulch everything each year with leaves, compost and/or grass clippings, we don't need to access it with our tiller once the soil is prepared for the season. And mowing the grass next to the garden shouldn't be a problem either.

I won't consider myself having found a foolproof solution just yet, as deer are really smart when it comes to overcoming barriers between them and finding food. Nor am I sure I fully understand why this low budget fence actually works.

But I'll keep you posted. We just saw two young deer checking out the neighborhood in broad daylight last evening, so we'll see.

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6/25/21 update: We had some deer reach under the fishline to top off a few corn stalks over a week ago, so we sprayed some deer repellent all around the garden to add to its protection. So far, so good. 

7/4/21 update: We had five deer in our backyard this morning, enjoying a breakfast of apples lying on the ground. But so far they still haven't trespassed into the vegetable garden.

7/29.21 update Second batch of sweet corn is about ready to harvest, and tomatoes are doing great. The combination of three strands of fishing line and some occasional deer repellent around the parameter of the garden has worked.