Warning! Deer Damage Ahead 2/14/03

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For adult deer and fawns, spring is whenever things start greening up – which could be unusually early this year. Spring also is when they select a grazing territory for the coming growing season.

"The impact that has on city parks and suburban yards in 2003 could be severe," warned Charles Lee, wildlife damage control specialist, Kansas State University Research and Extension.

Deer numbers will be reflecting a string of mild winters, "although we rarely get the cold-related die-off seen in the Northeast," Lee said. "Several years of intense harvest of deer during hunting seasons have reduced populations statewide. However, in some areas the numbers are still growing."

Plant Plants That Deer Don’t Like

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With landscape damage increasing in scope with Kansas deer numbers, homeowners are looking for plants that deer tend to leave alone. [See related stories]

Ward Upham, coordinator of Kansas State University’s statewide Master Gardener program, said the following landscaping "staples" are good possibilities:

* TREES - Russian olive and blue spruce.

* SHRUBS - Barberry, boxwood, Redosier dogwood, Russian olive, European privet, Rose of Sharon, yew.

* FLOWERS (annuals, bulbs, perennials) - Ageratum, sweet alyssum, columbine, purple coneflower, daffodil, daylily, lamb’s ear, lavender, lily of the valley, marigold, Russian sage, snapdragon, thyme, yarrow, yucca.

"The best anyone can say is that these plants are rarely eaten," Upham said. "With deer, that doesn’t mean damage is impossible."

Within city limits, for example, deer herd size also reflects the fact that human population areas in Kansas have become "refuges." This refuge effect reflects another three factors: 1) local firearm laws; 2) a lack of natural predators; and 3) suburban areas’ extended smorgasbord of carefully planted, lovingly manicured "deer fodder."

"We can’t just capture the urban deer and release them in rural areas, either," Lee said. "Rural deer herds already are occupying that space."

Deer’s selection for spring-to-fall grazing can largely go unnoticed. Early spring’s weather tends to keep people indoors, and its short days mean more hours of the dark that deer prefer for eating.

Beyond that, deer damage tends to add up over time, because the animals are browsers.

"They’ll nip a hosta and take a step. Then they’ll try a hydrangea leaf or two and take another step," Lee said. "At first you may think you’ve just got a rabbit at work. But you can bet the deer will keep coming back, if they like what they’ve eaten."

The fact that deer are creatures of habit can work in homeowners’ favor, however.

"Chasing deer out after they’ve learned your landscape and garden provide good eating can be very difficult," the wildlife specialist said. "But if they learn not to like a yard in early spring, they’ll tend to leave it alone for the entire growing season."

Ward Upham, K-State Research and Extension horticulturist, said deer normally do not bother some plants, if better eating is available. [See box.] So, avoiding deer preferences while landscaping can help homeowners preserve plant investments for years.

"That’s just a start, though. Deer feeding habits can shift in line with changes in their food supply. For example, drought may make a frequently watered landscape lavender look a lot better than it did last year, when the deer were less hungry," Upham said. "Besides, deer can be like people in that a few may have what others in their group would classify as really strange food preferences."

That means homeowners need to learn how to teach deer to go elsewhere in spring, Lee said. That basically comes down to scaring or repelling deer when they come "shopping."

"Unfortunately, the most successful methods often run into trouble with local codes and city ordinances. So homeowners may need to work with local authorities to change or get exceptions from zoning regulations and try a combination of devices," the wildlife specialist said. [See related story.] "And they may have better luck shopping at the farm supply than at the garden supply store."

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.