Too many people, too many deer

[Teegate]

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/atlantic/story/5742753p-5759933c.html

 

[Boyd]

In central and northern New Jersey, there are forests that have been stripped of everything good and green below 6 feet by whitetail deer.

This problem really isn't confined to Central and North Jersey IMO. In the Atsion Road area where I live there's still a lot of wooded land, and there are plenty of deer wandering on my several acres. I have tried to cultivate some more greenery on my own land, and for the first year I wondered if there was something wrong with the soil because most of my efforts failed. Then I realized that all I was really doing was creating a "deer salad bar." They eat almost everything that sprouts. So for the most part I've just given up and I let nature take its course. My woods consist mostly of large oak trees, some pines, but almost no low vegetation.

It seems the deer don't like rhododendron and laurel, so they do pretty well (although the sandy soil doesn't seem ideal for them). Are there other things which deer don't like that I could plant that do well in the deep shade of the big oaks?

 

[woodjin]

Boy, that was one very redundant article. The idea of contraception and sterilazation as an alternative to hunting seems ridiculous to me. Maybe I should take up hunting. I have little urge to actually kill deer but that idea ojf killing your own food has a certain honest, and self reliant appeal to it.

Jeff

 

[Gerania]

Please, Jeff, take up hunting. Then if your freezer isn't big enough, I'll be happy to take some of the meat off of your hands. Somebody around here has some wine to go with that, I understand.

Gillian

 

[Badfish740]

The idea of contraception and sterilazation as an alternative to hunting seems ridiculous to me.

If you ask me the problem is these damn promiscuous deer! I talked to one buck the other day and he told me that he never uses a condom because it doesn't "feel as good." I say mandatory abstinance education for all fawns!

But seriously...if I were a deer I'd rather be shot than have my intestines shredded by the treebark and briars I ate because there's nothing else left in the dead of winter.

 

[Gerania]

.

It seems the deer don't like rhododendron and laurel, so they do pretty well (although the sandy soil doesn't seem ideal for them). Are there other things which deer don't like that I could plant that do well in the deep shade of the big oaks?

http://wildlifecontrol.info/chdp/reducingdeer4.htm

See Appendix A near the bottom for lists of plants/shrubs which are rarely or seldom damaged by deer. You'll probably be able to find a few things on the list which will grow well on your property. After reading through a few gardening forums I realized that there aren't any good answers. What the deer leave alone in one area they ravage in another

Gillian

 

[Boyd]

Hey, thanks Gillian! That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.