Deer destroyed my Asian pear trees last night

16 years ago

I have been eagerly awaiting to try some Asian pears and had some really nice ones on my new trees I had planted this year. I had fenced the trees off with heavy plastic fencing about shin to eye level high. Every day I would go in my back yard to examine them and check on their development, cradling the pears in my hand anticipating their ripening to fruition.

When I woke op this morning I had found the trees shredded and ripped in half. All the pears had been striped and the branches strewn around the yard. Sickening how nature works sometimes - they come in the night and I wake up to their destruction.

But I guess it reminds me that nature does not bow to me ~ I bow to nature.

Next season will try it all over again and replace the trees with new ones and heavy metal fencing from ankle high to over my head in height.

"When the sun rises I go to work,

When the sun goes down, I take my rest,

I dig the well from which I drink,

I farm the soil that yields my food,

I share creation, Kings can do no more."

Ancient Chinese, 2500 BC

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Comments (6)

denninmi
16 years ago
I had a similar problem about 8-10 years ago, a large deer herd eating everything. Worst damage was in the late summer-early fall, when the bucks would use my young fruit trees to polish their antlers and rub off the itchy "velvet." They killed a few, and maimed some others that did survive.

I had to do as you suggest, putting fences made of six foor wire mesh around each tree -- about 50 trees total.

Since then, our deer herd in the neighborhood has declined a lot. The neighbor two doors down had the misfortune of hitting 3 deer with her car with a one year period -- her insurance agent couldn't believe it. I almost hit them a couple of times. Enough of them got killed on the roads that the population has dropped significantly.

I have a fawn living in my yard right now -- quite small when I saw it about 5 weeks ago for the first time. I likes to spend the days in my corn and under my blackberry bushes, and, of course, it is stripping things at night, like collards, kale, soybeans, etc. I'm cutting things down as soon as they are havested, like the sweet corn, to remove cover and hopefully make "Bambi" move on to greener pastures.
flora2b
16 years ago
Are you sure it is deer and not a bear? Usually the deer eat all the leaves and fruit, but usually they don't shred and rip apart the trees all in one night!
Sorry for your loss.....I know how you feel.....I just put up two deer fences this year as I was tired of the competition.
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calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
16 years ago
I don't think it was deer either. Bear or a family of raccoons is more likely. Al
garbird
16 years ago
Where do you live, allenwrench? It sounds more like a bear,but deer can do alot of damage when the bucks are polishing there antlers this time of year. I have never seen a deer tear a tree in half though. Usually they just shred the bark, eat the fruit and leaves. I always try to thin the deer herd by putting away a good amount of venison every year.
garbird
tdave8666
16 years ago
REALLY. . . . .BIG. . . . .BUCKET!
garbird
16 years ago
I wish I had the space to grow fruit trees. I have a recipe for a fruit salsa that goes great with grilled fish. The Asian pears are really great in it ( love the crisp texture), but right now they are selling for $3.99 each at my local grocery stores.
garbird