← All pests
Deer

Deer

Odocoileus spp.

Mammalalso: White-tailed deer

Large, graceful, and very hungry, deer browse a huge range of garden plants, vegetables, fruit, and young trees, usually at dawn and dusk. A herd can clip a planting to the ground overnight, and the only reliable protection is to physically exclude them.

🔎 How to spot it

You may not see the deer, which feed in the early morning and evening, so read the signs: plants browsed off with a torn, ragged break rather than a clean cut (deer lack upper front teeth), browse lines on shrubs up to about head height, tracks and droppings, and bucks shredding bark on young trunks when they rub their antlers in fall.

🥀 Damage it causes

Deer eat shoots, leaves, buds, flowers, vegetables, and fruit, and strip the foliage and tender bark of young trees and shrubs; the torn, ragged ends they leave distinguish their browsing from the clean cut of rabbits. Damage is heaviest where food is scarce, in late winter and early spring, and a single night of feeding can devastate a vegetable bed.

🛡️ Prevent it

A good fence is the only dependable answer: a sturdy woven-wire fence about eight feet tall, or a slanted or double fence, since motivated deer clear lower ones. For small beds, a cage or a few strands of fishing line or wire strung at 30 to 36 inches can deter them, and individual young trees can be sleeved with tree guards. Favor deer-resistant plants at the garden edge.

🧯 If it is already here

Where fencing is not yet up, taste-and-odor repellents (eggs, dried blood, capsaicin, and similar) can give temporary relief, but they wash off, need frequent reapplication, and lose effect as deer get used to them, so rotate products. Scare devices help only briefly. For lasting control, invest in exclusion, because hungry deer eventually push past every other measure.

💡 Good to know

Repellents and scare tactics buy time but do not solve a real deer problem; fencing does. Remember that a starving deer will eat almost anything, including plants rated deer-resistant, so in high-pressure areas plan on a tall fence around the vegetable garden rather than hoping repellents will hold.

🌱 Plants it attacks

714 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAgrimonyAji Amarillo Pepper🍓Albion StrawberryAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAlmondAloe VeraAmbrosia CornAmerican BasswoodAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican BeechAmerican PersimmonAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAniseAnise HyssopAnjou PearAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApple MintApril Tryst CamelliaArbequina OliveArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArkin CarambolaArmenian CucumberAroniaArp RosemaryArugulaAshwagandhaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAtlantic Giant Pumpkin🥕Atomic Red CarrotAucubaAugust Beauty GardeniaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAutumn Joy SedumAvocadoBachelor's ButtonBalsam FirBalsam PoplarBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBartlett PearBay LaurelBayberryBeach PlumBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBilberryBing CherryBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Beluga LentilBlack Cherry TomatoBlack CrowberryBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Kabouli ChickpeaBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack Sapote🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green BeanBluecrop BlueberryBocking 14 ComfreyBok Choy

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.