Most local gardeners and farmers agree deer are a problem. Most will also agree that drought is likewise bad for gardens.
But one of those issues can exacerbate the other.
According to Jay Cooper, an Erda resident, master gardener and the garden columnist for the Tooele Transcript Bulletin, deer and animals are always going to eat the easiest, most available source of food.
Because deer view humans as potential predators, the most convenient source of food — from the perspective of a deer — is usually an unoccupied field or forest somewhere away from civilization.
But a drought situation like the one Tooele County is experiencing can change that.
“The more that their natural habitat is impacted, the more they’re going to think that your garden is a buffet,” Cooper said.
Tom Becker, a local wildlife biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said he didn’t think there would be an unusually large number of deer pushed into town due to the drought, but added that dry conditions will affect vegetation in the rangeland, especially in the deserts of the western part of the county.
That, combined with the local animals’ natural acclimation over time to things humans use as deterrents can create a frustrating reality for farmers and gardeners.
“I have deer here continually,” said Barbara Barlow, owner of Speir’s Farm in Tooele. “The deer have been here all winter. They just eat continually, and I have no real way to keep them out.”
Barlow said she’s tried various means of preventing the deer from damaging her property — last year she purchased some industrial-strength mesh to place around her plants — but nothing has proven totally effective. Her trees are stripped as high as the deer can reach, shrubs are nibbled and flowers mowed down, she said. After planting $200-300 worth of tulips, she said, she only gets two or three blooms.
“The growth doesn’t come back until August, and then winter’s here,” she said.
Her two-acre farm is too big to fence in entirely, Barlow said, but she said deer have jumped a 6-foot fence that borders one side of her property.
Tall fences aren’t the only deterrent not getting the job done. Linden Greenhalgh, a local agriculture extension agent for Utah State University, observed the deer that frequent his yard are no longer afraid of his dog.
Hungry deer can be exceptionally persistent, so for residents who live in areas frequented by wildlife, the only way to avoid sharing with the deer is to be even more persistent, Cooper said.
He recommended residents place protective structures around their most valued plants, especially fruit trees, and advocated covering low-growing crops with mesh or plastic. Some people have even installed low-voltage electric wires in their gardens — nothing strong enough to hurt the deer, but just enough to startle them, he said.
Cooper also suggested experimenting with some of the new commercial products on the market — anything from sprayable deer repellents to motion-activated sprinklers and lights. Anything that is shiny or noisy and unpredictable can potentially make the deer wary of an area, he said.
Cooper said residents shouldn’t rely on a single application of just one method of repelling deer, but should rotate through a couple different methods and change the location of any sprinklers, lights or noise makers to keep the deer on their guard.
At the end of the day, there is no fool-proof magic bullet to prevent all deer-related damage, he said, but residents can control and minimize the damage if they make their yard less accessible than other potential food sources.
“It has to be such a hassle for the animal that it makes it easier to go elsewhere,” Cooper said. “You just want to make your yard not their favorite place.”