To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Semi-dwarf apples + Deer =
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:20:49 -0600
My first year here I planted over 100 fruit trees, a sizeable investment. I
watched them carefully for deer damaged but nothing. Oh, a nibble here, a
nibble there but nothing I probably would not have trimmed of anyway in
shaping the trees. Three days before the opening of deer season they killed
all but three trees and those were not worth saving. The cherries were
hardest hit. Everyone of them broke off at the graft. I erected an 8 ft
fence this year around an acre and replanted about 70 trees. I was hoping
to complete the acre this year if I can get my tractor running in time. I
have alerted all our friends and neighbors that our place is available for
deer hunting on our little 82 acre place but so far they have only killed
five in the last two years. I have on several occasion seen 14 or 15 in our
pasture and one morning they were standing in our yard 25 feet from the
house eating my wife's rose. &*$%^ four legged locusts.