Deanna, I tried something similar to what you are talking about one winter. It lasted until February, then the deer tore it down one night. It was very obvious that they had been tolerant of the silly humans before then.

Thanks, mad G. Good to know. Since it's no match for the deer, maybe I'll be able to repurpose it to keep millions of oak leaves from blowing onto my garden beds this fall. Find something useful to do with it.

Aren’t your neighbors concerned at all about ticks and lyme disease?

I discussed the pros/cons of feeding the deer, plus told them of the damage to my property. I asked them kindly to move their feeding bin to the other side of their home or down in the wooded area. They flatly refused. They are totally ignorant of the dangers to humans, deer, properties affected....and this negligence on their part has also caused 3 car accidents where people had to repair their vehicles after striking the deer as they cross the road to the feeding bins. I may have to have my attorney send a letter advising them they may have to pay for damages but I'm afraid of retaliation. Three families are affected by the deer that overrun our properties but Township and County said there are no laws against feeding the deer in our township. Hopeless!

(disclaimer: I've helped raise deer because my grandparents foster'd for the state wildlife, plus I raised one of my own as a teenager, I adore them)
However, I'm on the side of reality, that (at least in my area) deer are hoofed rodents, overpopulated, and the absolute last thing (for the deer or humans) would be to feed them.

With the recent outbreaks of disease, causing them to congregate into a common feeding area is very bad for the deer.

And (this is very minor), there have been reports of deer fatalities to humans. I can see this, because my young buck at somewhat over one year of age, was attempting to protect me from a neighbor, with actions very very similar to an enraging bull (pawing, scraping, head tossing, etc) and staying between me and the other teen. I quickly left the situtation, because those horns and incredibly sharp hooves do have the potential to be lethal. Causing them to lose fear of humans is a very bad idea. On my end, I remained able to call the deer for the next two years or so from the 'woods' after we released him. Unfortunately (my fault), due to actions that I took, he ended up getting shot by hunters, despite his pink collar. Though I like to think his gene pool may live on, he brought a couple of does with him two or three times when he came to me (yes, they stayed at fringes of woods and did not approach). I have no doubt in my mind that an adult buck white tail deer could be lethal.

This is drifting off the point, but related?. We had also bottle raised several black angus orphan cows. And even though my father, mother, and I all had handfed the cows, they reacted differently to us. Mother and I could do absolutely anything with them, I remember riding one, and laying on it. The cows would give me a slimy tongue bath if allowed. However, my father could be butted, or possibly more aggressive behavior (I believe this had to do with loudness and personality, though I have no idea if he ever hit them or something?). Oh, and if you're thinking just that he was an adult male, with the last, so was I (I think we lost the last bottle fed cow when I was about 23 or 24).

The point being that property damages (and yes I am you..and would want bambi for dinner if I had significant damages to my plantings), injury, and car collisions are all possibilities. It's just a bad idea for people and deer.

One thing you may not even be aware of, is that during rut season, stags can be somewhat insane and may fight an offending shrubbery to bits. I lost very nice Canadian Hemlock once. I couldn't believe how complete the destruction was.

"However, I'm on the side of reality, that (at least in my area) deer are hoofed rodents, overpopulated, and the absolute last thing (for the deer or humans) would be to feed them. With the recent outbreaks of disease, causing them to congregate into a common feeding area is very bad for the deer."

This x 100. More municipalities need to cull their herds -- they're out of control in some places, and because much of John Q Public can't stomach the thought of Bambi being shot, often public outrage ensues if a cull is even considered. The idiots don't realize it's crueler to the animals to let them die of starvation if over-populated, be poisoned by residents who don't want them around, get hit by cars, etc etc. People just don't get it that wildlife populations need to be controlled in some instances -- which is not the same as eradication by any means. Why would we want to do everything in our power to eradicate rats when they over-run the place but not deer?

Plus, if a cull results in the meat being processed and donated to shelters/food banks -- how can people be against that? Sure, send the cow to the slaughterhouse but don't let the sharpshooter kill the deer with one swift bullet. Sigh...

Anyway, I haven't seen Ruth around for quite a while -- I wonder if she ever solved her problem.

I dunno, but I figured I had input that might help someone, even if not the OP.

dbarron: What is rut season? Is that when the bucks rub the felt off their antlers? Oh man, that can do a *lot* of damage...

Rut is the time they're at a sexual hormonal high.

So...maybe I shouldn't say I feel like I'm in a rut....LOL!!

(no comment) :)

I have the same problem with my next door neighbour feeding the deer. I’ve counted up to 30 of them. I’ve spoken to him, but he’s not interested in stopping. I think I will just give up the garden (except veggies, which will have a fence of some sort) . It annoys me to no end. I feel like raising woodpeckers to send over to his house to peck away at it. To me it is the same destruction.

Maybe I’ll submit a request to the township to pass a bylaw prohibiting feeding the deer....and see what happens.

Is there already an ordinance on the books? It wouldn't hurt to ask. If that pic is of your neighbor's yard, you might want to show that to the local health authorities. There may be something that can be done under public health code; it might fall under their jurisdiction because of risk of spread of infectious disease (e.g. lyme disease) based on the sheer number of deer feeding (being intentionally fed).

You might also want to call your state's DNR to see if they have any prohibitions on record and to ask for their guidance.

Shoot 'em.

I’m looking into Nerf Blasters -lol

"Shoot 'em."

The neighbors or the deer :-) There are generally laws involved that prohibit both!

@ GG. I will leave that to your imagination. I am allowed to shoot deer in my neighborhood. I see them as Tiara wearing rats in High healed shoes with an entitlement complex. I actually have a tax exemption that has deer control as a duty.

Most areas restrict shooting any kind of wild animals in residential neighborhoods. Acreage maybe different. I live on an island with a large, growing and uncontested deer population but no hunting allowed. The local fish and game department does cull them but not enough to keep up with their proliferation.

If you live where deer are overpopulated and you're out and about, you see the many tragedies that befall even the deer under these circumstances. Car accidents and may other incidents of deer trying to get around urban impediments. I saw a deer impale itself on a fence once, horrific. Then there's chronic wasting disease, and many other disease nasties. There are worse fates for Bambi that being shot by a hunter . . . meanwhile I have observed the deer feeding is often related to other mental issues in a neighbor, so difficult to discourage. Our elderly half-senile neighbor insisted on doing it, no matter what and many complaints from neighbors. Only almost burning her house down and having to go into a nursing home stopped it. Her family could not convince her to stop and do many other things either. Only until they had to take conservatorship did anything work. Meanwhile, fencing is your friend on your end . . . and yes, maybe some helpful pamphlets . . . couldn't hurt.

I know exactly how you feel. We live in Texas, where deer feeding is allowed all year!! We live in a subdivision with an HOA. One of neighbors has huge bins full of deer corn in his front yard. When they're done eating, they use our yard as their bathroom!! We have also tried many options to keep them from destroying our plants, but have decided to install an electric fence! I have also filed a complaint with our HOA. Doubtful any action will be taken, but it won't hurt to try.

the Nerf Guns are working (if I catch them in my garden)!

"the Nerf Guns are working (if I catch them in my garden)!"

Fun! I bet DH would have a blast with that :0)

I can hardly wait for them to try and “enter” now -lol

I live in NY and i am in a mobil park and not allowed a fence. my neighbor feeds the deer all the time. there are more than a dozen .i have a dog and afraid of her getting ticks and giving them to me. they are so bold now they do not even move when you go outside. i have tried every deer resist spray and plants and that does not even stop them from coming. and of course the neighbor has no plants for them to eat. very frustrated.

^^ You can call your municipality and make an anonymous report. What they do, if anything, depends on what ordinances exist.

It is quite amazing that people have to use bullets to get them. I think I could walk right up to them and strangle them …they just stand there and don’t move

Hu, you can purchase flea and tick monthly tablets from your veterinarian for your dog, which will drastically reduce, if not eliminate, the chance of your doggo getting a tick and passing it on to you. My dogs take a monthly preventative and the one time I found a tick on them, it was already dead.

You can also try Bobbex deer repellant spray…I have found it to work better than Liquid Fence, which seemed to stop working for me last year.

My neighbor used to feed the deer also, now she’s out there yelling at them every summer to ”git!!! go!!” when they’re eating her flowers, shooing them onto MY property. Well, I call yell loudly too, and I shoo them right back, sometimes even chasing them back across the property line. There are no natural predators in my area and the deer population has grown out of control.

As OP, I thought I'd look up this old thread. The feeding, and frustration, continues. As my dog and I got home from our walk this morning (in the woods), he took off after a deer who was in our yard. Another ran through, taking out the fishing line I just put up yesterday. @#?#@

They have a very small garden, and just say "oh, they only nibble on ours." Of course they do - they come over and feast on mine! Fences aren't allowed in our neighborhood (HOA). I did sneak some deer fencing in one area where it's easily hidden, but I'm getting tempted to surround the yard. It may be against HOA regs, but feeding the deer is illegal, so...

If feeding deer is illegal in your municipality, you can report the person with the feeder on their property to the authorities. Different states have different laws on the books about feeding and what is considered baiting. Some municipalities have further codes beyond state code.

For example, in my state, Michigan, there is one state code with two divisions. One for upper and one for lower Mi. It's legal to feed deer year round within 100 yards of residence in the whole state, but baiting deer is considered different. Upper and lower Mi has different codes about baiting. But within specific municipality, like Southfield, they have effectively banned deer feeding by only allowing feeders over 5 feet off the ground.

If you are in an HOA, you might be able to make a change by lobbying the HOA to impliment a ground feeder ban or a requirement for taller feeders.

If you can't have a fence, but you can hide a deer fence... think you can do a chicken moat of stringers? Stringers or simple wire often hides from the human eye, but can mess with deer if it's done right. Their depth perception isn't the greatest and they don't like to jump a chicken moat. It's better done with more standard fencing, but some folks have done it with just wire. If it's woody enough and you got deadfall.. are you allowed to berm your deadfall? As you clean up the yard pile and build up your deadfall into berms around the property. It's not fences, it's not plantings. If you are clever with your stacking, it will deter deer and not look too unnatural to casual human eye. You have to keep up on it, but then there is usually some deadfall in a woody area to clean up. They will still come through the spots you leave open for humans to pass through. But you can control those openings better with things like scent or scares.

You might not get to deer proof. But you can get to making your yard much less appealing by comparison to the neighbors yards.

@beesneeds - I'm in Michigan, and my understanding is that it's now forbidden to feed deer at all in the lower peninsula. https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing-resources/laws/baiting#:~:text=A%20person%20may%20engage%20in,the%20nearest%20paved%20public%20highway. But I think a neighbor already reported them and nothing happened. If you know different info, I'd appreciate an update, since I don't want to be misinformed, especially if it ever comes up in conversation with them.

I have as many shrubs as possible, and am filling in as quickly as I can. I need to be considerate of my immediate neighbors (feeding neighbor is two doors down) so clear fishing line and large shrubs are my go-to for right now.

I don't get the fascination these days since every single neighborhood every single place around here is overrun with deer. It's not like it's some "wow-nature" thing. It's like being thrilled with chipmunks. Ok, I guess I'm exaggerating just a little!

@ruth_mi, I don’t think you’re exaggerating at all, ha ha! There are dozens upon dozens of deer in my neighborhood, but you only see a coyote every once in a while. You can’t hunt where I live, so these deer have no natural predators...I hate them so much!!! And the past winters have been relatively mild, so they’re fnding enough to eat and not freezing to death either. Ugh. I’ll need to spend a couple hundred bucks on Bobbex this growing season, but it works and there isn’t much else that can be done.

We have plenty of natural predators (very few nights go by without hearing a coyote) but there are still too many deer and elk!

@lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan - I'll have to try the Bobbex. Right now I have a pretty good supply of Liquid Fence. The issues with sprays are costs and the need to keep applying. I want the darned deer to go away!

i live in suburban Zone 7a/b NJ, herds of deer, nobody feeds them. There is a lot for winter food for deer here anyway, they eat my neighbor's plants, not my poisonous ones. Predators are slowly moving back in though. But yes, I too will throw out some corn, potatoes, or carrots if there is deep snow, rather than throw out the food.

I totally forgot about the DNR CWD thing that happened a couple years back. Probably because of all the deer feed sales that go on during hunting season. Cribs and bags of apples and corn, blocks of stuff to put out. There's regular deer feed year round, but the big sales kick in during hunting season. Easy to forget people aren't supposed to do it now when you see it going on like nothing ever changed.

I guess then it would bounce back to the HOA and if they are willing to uphold the current ban, or if they might be willing to change their own regulations about feeders. Even though you are the homeowners, the HOA are the ones that have the control as far as that's concerned. Like they can have a ban in place for fences.

"But I think a neighbor already reported them and nothing happened."

Report them again. They may have gotten off with only a warning the first time around with ticket(s) coming after repeat offenses. Happened at my other house -- reported the neighbor for feeding stray cats, the township officials did come out and speak with her, gave her a warning. I know this because she told me -- she thought it was another neighbor who reported her. So don't assume the officials didn't do anything -- you don't know unless you know. Did the neighbor report to local officials or the DNR? I imagine you could report via both routes if there is a state regulation against feeding the deer or wildlife. Or call your local news station or newspaper, see if they'll do a story on how people in your neighborhood are breaking the law by feeding the wildlife -- never know, they might do such a story on a slow news day (but stay anonymous, of course...)

The human population is almost 8 billion people. That is over 2 times the sustainable level Earth can handle. We are using 30 percent of the planet for grazing livestock. Developement is taking away all the wild areas our native animals need for food and shelter. The left over areas that don't get developed end up being overtaken with invasives like Phragmites that can't be used by hungry wildlife. In eastern NA we used to have herds of elk and bison in the millions. There used to be prairie chickens, passenger pigeons and Carolina parakeets. Us humans have caused their extinctions. The flora on our continent evolved with these grazers and together they kept nature in ballance along with the prescribed burns of the First People. We had predators that culled the deer, but fussy, selfish humans can't have predators anywhere near them. Their precious poodles might get snatched. A lot of innocent plants that could feed deer get sprayed because disgruntled Karens call the authorities to complain about pollen. I Often drive by homes sitting on 2 or 3 acres and their whole yards are nothing But manicured grass. People could care more about wildlife and let a part of their huge lots go back to nature. Humans are selfish and disgusting. Animals are sencient beings. What gives us the right to think of them as inferior and that we have the right to do with them as we please?

^^ I don't disagree with you. At all. But that doesn't change the fact that in her OP's area it is illegal to feed the deer.

Now that I was reminded of the DNR ban, it's for the sake of the deer that it's in place. I forgot about chronic wasting disease being a serious problem in the state and that the old rules about feeding don't apply at this time.

Maybe the OP needs to go back and have a discussion with the neighbor about the feeding. They may not be aware of the ban or completely forgot about it since feed is readily available. Hit up the HOA about it. HOA rules don't supercede state rules, so while there is a state ban on, the HOA should be complying with it. The OP can also report the activity to the DNR. I forgot about the feeding ban, but I'm pretty sure hunting season is still over at the end of March, so reporting a bait station might get some more attention again. I think that mxk3 is correct in that one call might get a warning, but a few reports might be necessary to get the DNR to stop the neighbor from what they are doing.

75% of my multi-acre lot is wooded or has reverted to meadow; a small river flows through as well. Lots of stuff for the deer and wild turkeys to eat. Yet the deer choose to come up to my house and nibble on my hosta and other perennials instead of the wild bounty that is available to them. My community has hundreds of acres of land dedicated to parks, with rivers and creeks and wetlands and woodlands and meadows within. Yet the deer enter into the adjacent subdivisions to also eat the carefully tended annuals and perennials. It is maddening.

Jay, it is maddening that many people don't give much thought to wildlife and whatever is going on with them. But you said yourself the planet is overpopulated. There are just too many people. How do you solve that problem? Plenty of people on the planet not having their needs met either.

To me, it is an exercise in futility to get mad at people when really the problems and issues are so huge and any efforts to find solutions are not well organized or well funded enough to make a difference. And some problems defy solution.

Anyone whose lifestyle and resources allow them to pay attention to wildlife and make some attempt to make a difference in their lives have my admiration and respect. But I absolutely can't make a broad statement that across the board, anyone who is not doing something is 'selfish and disgusting'. And labeling anyone in that way, to me, doesn't help in any way and actually just makes it harder to interest people in paying more attention.

I did like that very thought provoking visual.

Of course roads cross the forest but that has no relationship (imo) to people LURING deer into an area by feeding them

O, I seem to be able to hold contradictory views simultaneously. On one hand, as a very nature-deprived urbanista, my heart always lifts at the sight of deer (and badger, hawks, fox etc.) but at the same time, I see the ravaged saplings and have dark thoughts of deer haunch in casseroles. I think most of us are really getting through our allotted time here, doing the best we can (although obviously, some people's 'best' will be other's mad dash for profit and exclusivity). Yep, there are too many people, but many models show a carrying capacity of up to 12 billion people...if we all agree to consume a whole lot less and live in a more egalitarian and sustainable way. Big if, for sure, and I don't think we will agree willingly, but there are many feedback mechanisms which tend towards equilibrium, with or without human consent.

I never did any animal feeding (just water when needed) until I fell under the spell of garden robins...and now have a monthly tax of live mealworms. Even so, I have to ensure the little birds do not become dependent on my uncertain care, so ensure there are days when the feeder is empty.

I ended up buying some ”Deer Out” and it seemed to work very well. It even stayed on after the rain and didn’t smell bad. It was darned expensive though in Canada. I realized what a terrible aim I was with the Nerf gun -lol- and those deer would just stand there and look at the crazy woman trying to load the nerf bullets and shoot them off in every direction but theirs 🙄

I have the same problem. I don't want to fight with my neighbors over this but I'm really tired of the deer eating my flowers and messing all over my lawn. I am in Canada and we have no bylaw prohibiting feeding deer. There are up to 30 deer crossing my lawn to feed out of containers in my neighbors yard. I have tried to discuss the problem with my neighbor but they feel that if they stop feeding in Apr that the deer will just leave but of course they don't and we exclaimed that they are providing a food source and the deer will keep coming back looking for that source. But they think they are doing a good thing putting food out for the deer. In their very own words " the deer struggle to get enough food and they enjoy seeing them" one problem also is that we live on a bypass ...the deer are getting killed when crossing our busy bypass, with numerous freight trucks etc. it's very frustrating to say the least.

It may not be illegal to feed them were you live but your neighbors are doing the deer no favors. It is never a good idea to feed wild animals. Food that humans intentionally provide is rarely similar to their natral diet and can cause digestive problems and other illnesses. It makes the deer reliant on humans so they get lazy and keep coming back. They become unafraid and overly familiar. By not feeding the deer they are coerced into foraging on their own (although that could include your garden). Part of the reason there is such a huge deer overpopulation is because well intentioned but uneducated people - like your neighbors - think they are being kind. They're not. Overpopulation results in increased diseases, traffic conflicts and neighborhoods that are overwhelmed with herds of deer.

@ 41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal), you might want to read this: https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/hunting/feeding-of-wild-white-tailed-deer/

You are contributing to the problem, not helping it. Can't blame it on lack of predators.......it's humans causing the problems.

Who are you commenting to Mark Wilson?