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Deer’S • Landscape with Deer Resistant Plants

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Deer’S • Landscape with Deer Resistant Plants does sport a brown coat in the summer, and a vegetable gardens, and fruit trees are the deer’s • Landscape with deer resistant plants. gray coat in the winter. This particular sub- favorite. When they are really hungry, how- Although deer may seem to munch specie has a distinctive “brush-like” black tail. ever, deer will eat almost anything. randomly through your garden, there are Bucks lose and regrow their antlers every year. It has even been reported that deer have certain types of plants they avoid. They are You cannot tell a buck’s age by the number of stripped the wooden siding off houses to less likely to eat twiggy plants with tiny points on each antler secure a mid-winter meal. leaves, and usually pass by thorny, spiny The mule deer is named for its huge ears, plants (although roses are irresistible). which measure two-thirds the length of its What you can do Strong tasting plants with aromatic foliage head. It should come as no surprise to learn While a deer grazing in your yard may be a are fairly safe, as are plants with milky sap. that a deer’s most well-developed sense is photogenic sight, you may be less than pleased Other fairly safe bets include ferns, coni- its hearing along with a keen sense of smell. with the scene it leaves behind. Half-eaten fers, low ground cover, tiny rock garden While deer are quick to detect motion, their vegetables, denuded rose bushes, and severely plants, and poisonous plants. Remember, vision is poor when identifying stationary pruned fruit trees are often the results of a however, that a hungry deer eats accord- hat can jump ten feet in the air, eat objects. After sensing danger, a mule deer deer visit. With a little patience and ingenu- ing to its own likes and dislikes and may W a ton of vegetation a year, and is a often flees by “stotting”— bounding with all ity, however, you may be able to discourage ignore this list. recognized movie celebrity? It may sound like four feet off the ground. • Protect plants with netting or wire cages. a science fiction creature, but it is, in fact, one Since most deer eat from shoulder height of America’s most common mammals – the Deer in Your Yard down, a five-foot wire cage surrounding deer. Although catching a glimpse of a deer Here in the Bay Area, deer once roamed small trees and shrubs may help to con- along the roadside of a national park or while freely in what are now backyards, shopping vince deer to browse elsewhere. A support hiking in a wilderness area can be a highlight centers, and places of business. As sub-divi- structure (such as wire hoops) covered of a vacation, deer in your backyard may be a sions, malls, and industrial parks began to with nylon netting is sometimes effective sight you’ve come to dread. But, with a better spring up, deer habitat shrank, resulting in in keeping deer out of vegetable gardens. understanding of your “hoofed neighbors,” decreases in available food and foraging areas. • Purchase commercially available deer you may find you can coexist in peace. Deer began finding food in domestic gar- repellents. dens. Judging by their burgeoning population or prevent deer from feasting at your expense. Several repellents are currently on the Deer in the Wild and robust health, they have adapted well to Listed below are a few suggestions that should market, each with a varying degree of The black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus human invasion. help you. effectiveness (usually not over 50%). columbarius) has inhabited the Bay Area for Deer generally enter your yard in search of • Build a fence. Check you local hardware store or garden thousands of years. This is the smallest and a meal. On its way to eating a ton of vegeta- This may be costly, but it is the only sure shop for availability. most abundant of California’s mule deer and tion a year, an average deer can select from means of repelling deer. Deer can jump • Use your imagination. is found from the Oregon border south to more than 600 plants. Deer are primarily heights of over six feet, so your fence Since any novel odor seems to repel deer Santa Barbara County. Bucks (adult males) browsers, eating twigs, buds, and leaves of should be no lower than this. Thorny to some extent, several creative techniques measure about three feet at the shoulder and shrubs and trees. But they will also feed on shrubs or a low hedge outside the fence have been tried. Deodorant soap hung weigh between 110 and 250 pounds. Does grass, weeds, and other herbaceous plants. As will prevent deer from getting the running on trees and shrubs has helped repel deer (adult females) are smaller. Both bucks and you may have discovered, ornamental plants, start they need for a good jump. and human hair placed in mesh bags has Visitor Centers & Recreation Services Sharing the World Together. We are fortunate to have both open space ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM and wild creatures so near us. With such a Fremont 510-796-0199, [email protected] LIVING WITH privilege, however, comes a responsibility — BLACK DIAMOND MINES that of recognizing that deer have used these Antioch 925-757-2620, [email protected] areas for thousands of years and we may need to compromise our intentions to minimize COYOTE HILLS REGIONAL PARK the conflicts of living in close proximity. Fremont 510-795-9385, [email protected] Although deer may be pesky at times, Deer CRAB COVE at CROWN BEACH been effective in some instances. perhaps, this is a small price to pay Alameda 510-521-6887, [email protected] This method works best where for having a bit of the wild so close deer have a natural fear of human at hand. SUNOL REGIONAL WILDERNESS scents. You may want to do some Sunol 925-862-2601, [email protected] experimenting of your own to Text by Frank Jahn. TILDEN NATURE AREA/EEC find an effective repellent. Illustration by Dyami Bol and LITTLE FARM Photos by Joe DiDonato Berkeley 510-525-2233, [email protected] Trapping and Relocating Deer AQUATICS UNIT 510-690-6620, [email protected] Should a deer become trapped in your yard or entangled in a fence, you REGIONAL PARKS BOTANIC GARDEN should not try to free it on your own c/o Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley under any circumstances. A deer’s legs 510-841-8732 are powerful and a well placed kick could [email protected], www.nativeplants.org severely injure or even kill you. Never approach a deer, even if it seems tame. OUTDOOR RECREATION UNIT Deer are unpredictable wild animals. Distict-wide programs 510-544-2512 Should a deer need to be removed from [email protected] your property, call your animal control This brochure is provided as a public service of office or the California Department of the Interpretive and Recreation Services Depart- Fish and Game for assistance. A trapped ment of the East Bay Regional Park District. animal may panic in response to your approach so keep your distance until EAST BAY REGIONAL PARK DISTRICT authorities arrive. 2950 Peralta Oaks Ct., P.O. Box 5381 Oakland, CA 94605-0381 East Bay Regional Park District 1-888-EBPARKS www.ebparks.org t C TDD phone 510-633-0460 s on Po s um % 0 e 100% r 10 www.ebparks.org 12/07.
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