Daydreaming of Venison Stew

Before this summer, I had not considered deer a nuisance. Now, having had some experiences with them, I do. Lately, instead of thinking "What beautiful, graceful animals they are," my thoughts have tended towards "Wouldn't it be nice to have venison this winter?"

The deer have repeatedly leaped our garden fence and dined at their leisure, noshing on dwarf and espaliered apple trees (but never touching the pears), and an assortment of vegetables to their hearts content.

Last night they finished off the remaining--and nicest--two rows of green beans left of five. I. Was. Mad. Emerson and I replanted the beans July 6 after our first batch (using old seed) failed to germinate. It was late, but I figured we'd have a harvest in mid-September. I'd put up green beans weeks after everyone else, but the end result would still be the same: rows of freshly canned green beans in my pantry. Not this year. Unless I buy a bushel of beans elsewhere.

I consulted gardening books and web sites in hopes of finding something to deter deer. Nothing worked. What failed? A headless so-called scarecrow (a t-shirt on a hanger with a pair of Emerson's old pants safety pinned to the shirt) that I relocated throughout the garden, spraying old perfume all over said scarecrow (deer supposedly do not like varied human scents), a homemade garlic, liquid soap and oil mixture sprayed on plants and again on the scarecrow (deer supposedly dislike garlic), three grocery store plastic bags hung throughout the garden (to rustle and move), red pepper flakes abundantly sprinkled on rows of vegetables, citrus peels scattered with wanton abandon on the same rows of vegetables and around the suspect fence border. I even found an old hard boiled egg hidden under lunch meat in a fridge drawer and tossed that in the garden one afternoon.

I had yet to try a few tactics, which I'll attempt to save our green peppers. I will throw a sheet over the area of the fence that I suspect they are jumping, as deer supposedly will not go over a barrier if they can not see the other side. I will put down several feet of fencing on the ground on the outside of the fence, as supposedly do not like to get their feet tangled. I might even try a portable battery-operated radio, left on low all night in the garden. Perhaps I should have tried these ideas first.

A new, tall fence or a reinforced 'enhanced' fence is at the top of my Wish List.

And there is no supposing about it, though I don't eat much meat, I do enjoy venison.