The Coalition of the Swilling

Mmmmmmm.....venison!

Seriously......have you thought about putting up wire mesh to stop Bambi from nibbling? Ugly, but at least the wild critters can't munch on your crops.

Actually, Jeff, what has worked fine the past couple of years are bars of Irish Spring. I just drill holes in 'em and hang 'em every 15' or so in a big circle around the area. The smell keeps the deer away. Crazy but it works. I just bought this year's bars this morning and I'll hang them later.

Heh! That must be why there are no deer in Ireland.

Maybe that's what killed off the Irish Elk.

Need a Southerner to head north to show you how to deal with your deer "problem"?

But I bet you guys have laws against discharging firearms in the city limits...though in New Jersey, that seems a bit hypocritical.

I was going to suggest Irish Spring but I see people have beat me to it.

Growing up, one of my friends' mothers swore by something called "blood meal" as a deer repellent. I don't know if you can still buy it or not (possibly not in these days of Mad Cow and salmonella fears).

I've also heard that human hair (...ask at your local barbershop, I guess) will also repel the buggers.

I dunno - I tend to think good marksmanship, followed by judicious use of a roasting pan, is probably the best solution.

Use what Weyerhaeuser uses, powdered eggs.
It is something about the sulphur content.
The deer actually do not like the taste.
Just shake it on the plants that you want to save.
Cheap too.
Halfway decent fertilizer too.
As for the soap, after a few days all it is, is another smell that the deer get used to.

"(And someday I'll figure out how to get non-blurry macro close ups...)"

Manual focus ol' boy. Works like a charm.

We also use red pepper flakes in our garden. It does keep out the smaller critters - not sure if it would work on Bambi though... I will have to try out the Irish Spring trick!