Top Threats Deer Pose to Your Home & Garden

Though deer look lovely in the woods or when frolicking in a meadow, they sure can do a lot of damage to your yard and garden. All of the hard work that you have put into your garden through the season can be ruined in just a few short hours if deer are able to make their way in. But aside from the damage to your plants and shrubs, deer pose other, more dangerous threats as well.

4 dangers that deer pose to your home and garden

1. One of the biggest concerns from deer is that they carry a host of diseases. Deer carry ticks that can transmit often debilitating diseases. Lyme disease , one of the most common afflictions caused by deer can cause headaches, exhaustion or fatigue, joint pain, skin rashes, and more. When not treated promptly, Lyme disease can have serious implications for the nervous system and can lead to memory loss. Other diseases such as Brucellosis can lead to flu-like symptoms from a bacterial infection, as well as fever and headaches. Not only does it affect the central nervous system, but it can also attack the lining of the heart too.
2. Deer can also cause injury to your pets. A dog’s natural reaction may be to protect his home from deer that have entered the yard. But, if the deer starts to feel cornered, it will likely look to protect himself. Deer have a protective instinctto mark their territory. Thus, they will often use their antlers as a defense mechanism, and this can be very dangerous to pets (especially during rutting season).
3. Deer are prey animals, which means that predators will seek out deer as food. If deer begin to find themselves comfortable in your yard, either because they have found nourishment within your plants and flowers, or because you haven’t done anything to keep them away, those predators will begin to take notice. Several deer predators can be dangerous to humans. Animals such as bobcats or coyotes will not hesitate to attack pets, small children, or even adults if they find their way into your yard and feel like you or the pet are now a threat.
4. These animals can even lower the value of your home. Deer are very destructive, and before too long, they can destroy trees and shrubs, quickly eroding the curb appeal or that back-yard oasis that you have created. While this may be less of a concern if you have no plans to sell, if you do indeed try to put your home on the market, many buyers will be turned off if they find that there is a deer-problem in the neighborhood.

How to keep deer away from your yard or garden

To keep any of the above dangers from occurring, there are steps that you can take to keep the deer out of your yard in the first place. Fencing, especially when at least ten feet high (privacy fencing) is highly effective in keeping deer away. Many homeowners use also leverage motion or noise-activated lights and noisemakers to scare deer away. Unfortunately, over time deer may learn that these devices are not true threats.

Deer repellents are usually the only truly effective way to keep deer out of a yard or garden. Deer Repellent Packs work to manipulate the deer's inborn instinctive fear of their primary predator - the coyote. As such, the active ingredient is coyote urine, which communicates through the deer's keen sense of smell to alert the animal that danger is lurking somewhere nearby. Deer Repellent Packs use a 100% organic, patent-pending process that granulates coyote urine and then encases it in a breathable, weatherproof pouch suitable for hanging even in the most discreet gardens. This means that you can protect your garden without taking away from its natural beauty.