Coping with Deer Program Recap

Dealing with deer can be troublesome and time consuming, especially as deer become more conditioned to the presence of and activities of humans.

Thank you to Jean Miller from the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Hunterdon County for sharing some important information about the deer populations in New Jersey and ways that gardeners can help mitigate the effects of deer on their plants and property.

There are many things we can do that might deter deer from our plants, trees, and gardens, but over time, their resistance will weaken. So let’s learn some more about deer in New Jersey and ways that we can cope with nature’s forager.

Quick Deer Facts

The Virginia White-Tailed Deer call New Jersey and many other states in the eastern United States home. They can live on average 10 years, and even upwards of 20 years. Female deer tend to live in small packs with other females and their fawns, which can stay with the mother for 1-3 years, depending on their sex. Deer are foragers will eat a variety of plants, particularly ones that are easily digestible. If too many deer are around, they can clear out the saplings and other brush vegetation in forests, leaving just a sea of tree trunks. They are excellent swimmers and can even run up to 45 mph, not to mention their ability to jump and clear obstacles (like fences) 8, 10, or even 12 feet high.

In the early twentieth century, deer were almost completely extinct in New Jersey, but through a variety of conservation efforts, their population rebounded, some might even say exploded, thanks to human intervention. Humans, to protect their livestock, eradicated the one natural predator of the deer, the eastern wolf. Coupling this with conversation efforts, warmer winters (higher overwintering survival rates), and even suburban development (deer love forest edges) have contributed to the rapid growth of deer in the state. In fact, the average ratio of deer per square mile in the state is 70 (112 for central Jersey), which is six times higher than the ideal rater of 8-11.

Deer Concerns

With the very high concentration of deer in the state, this is leading to more and more encounters with deer, resulting in a variety of concerns. Perhaps the biggest concern is the growing number of automobile accidents involving deer; there are roughly 30,000 accidents a year in New Jersey involving deer, totaling more than $100 million in insurance payouts. Public health is also a major concern as deer can be carriers for disease-carrying insects like ticks, transplanting them across long distances. Large concentrations of deer can cause devastating ecological damage, clearing entire areas of native vegetation, allowing for invasive species to thrive. Deer can also cause economic damage for farmers, eating their crops or their grassland needed to feed their livestock, to the tune of $1.3 million in 2019.

A major concern that is human-initiated is feeding deer. While it may seem nice to have deer come close to home to gaze at them, especially for little children, feeding deer can actually cause more problems than good. Most importantly, this causes deer to loose their fear of humans and human settlements. Human feeding can also increase the reproductive potential of females (as early as 6 months old) if they are well-fed, leading to more offspring over the life-span of a single doe. Concentrated feeding by humans can also encourage the spread of diseases and parasites, both within the deer population as well as other animals, including domesticated ones. Human feeding, especially sticking to one food source like corn, can sicken and even kill a deer because they need a variety of food to stay healthy.

Coping Strategies

So what can we do to deal with nuisance deer? A simple solution may seem to just have more hunters kill the deer, but there has been a steady decline of hunters in the state. In fact, even when municipalities pay individuals to hunt deer and reduce the population, it actually has an adverse affect on underbrush growth and it just encourages more deer to enter that area as a food source. Another seemingly simple solution would be to have a dog or dogs act as a deterrent, but to be really effective, the dog(s) would need to live outside as deer can come at all times of day or night (and who wants to hear dogs barking all day?).

There are a variety of repellents that can have an impact on deer mitigation, but there is also a chance that the deer will become resistant to them. Sprays or additives to plants to create a foul taste, like garlic or hot pepper, have to be applied constantly, especially after it rains. There are also scented sprays (mint, rotten eggs, wolf urine) and other scent deterrents (Irish Spring soap) that can have an effect, but similarly, they need to be constantly applied and even moved depending on the growth of the plants. Deer can easily become accustomed to the same scent/taste over and over so it is recommended to constantly change the repellent.

Another way to deter deer is to focus on plants that are deer resistant rather than those that are a deer’s food of choice (hosta, yew, lilies, tulips). Plants that have adverse textures or aromas are good deterrents as well as those that deer find toxic. These can include:

• Daffodils or other onion-family plants
• English boxwood
• Lambs ear (or other plants with fuzzy leaves)
• Foxglove
• Butterfly weed or other milkweeds
• Mahonias
• Ferns or ornamental grasses

A more complete guide to plants and their capability with deer can be found at https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/. However, if a deer is hungry, it can and will eat almost anything.

The only real way to prevent deer from terrorizing your plants and gardens is to use a physical barrier. You can try plant-based barriers like boxwoods or creepy juniper (deer don’t like stepping on prickly plants). We can use hardscaping, like boulders, to create barriers, but deer are very agile and can jump over many obstacles. The only true way to stop deer is with a fence, at least 8 feet high. These can be very costly, but are very effective. When constructing a fence (there are variety of types and styles that can be cheaper), consult with your township about any zoning requirements or your Home Owners Association regarding specifics. Also, make sure your fence is touching the ground and if needed, stake and mesh or wiring into the ground as deer can and will use their noses and head to bend it upward and slide under.

More Information

If you would like more information about deer in New Jersey, check out the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s factsheet entitled “An Overview of White-Tailed Deer Status and Management in New Jersey” – https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1202/. You can also contact your local county Rutgers Masters Gardeners – https://njaes.rutgers.edu/county/. If you have any questions, you can also contact Jean Miller at jeanbmiller63@gmail.com.