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Prevention is always better than cure, and when it comes to nuisance wildlife, that is most definitely the case. It is far easier to deter wild animals from your property than it is to evict one (or many) that has already set up camp. Deer, for example, will keep coming back to your land once they realize you have a food sources they really enjoy. This is a beautiful sight, of course, and many homeowners are simply spellbound the first few times they encounter a deer right in their back yard. After a while, however, this novelty definitely goes away, especially when you see the damage these animals can do your trees, your flower gardens, and even patches of fruits or vegetable plants. You could to sleep with everything still in tact, and wake up to a heart-sinking scene in the yard the next morning. The damage these creatures can do to your land is impressively shocking, despite how regal and graceful these animals may first come across. Do not trust them!
There are quite a few preventative measures and repellents/deterrents you can try to not only prevent a deer problem, but also make an existing deer problem go away. A sprayer, for example, is set off by a motion sensor. When a wild animal gets too close to the sensor, the quick jet of water is released, usually stunning and surprising the creature so much, it dare not come back. The good news about these devices is that they can actually be rather cost effective if you seem to have a few animal issues on your hands. The sensor will not only be set off by deer, but other wild critters too. It could help to keep out other animals you hadn’t even realized were invading your property.
Of course, motion spray devices CAN be effective, but what happens when the deer doesn’t go directly into the line of fire, so to speak? That water jet will never go off. The deer won’t be hit and startled. It will carry on its day as though nothing ever happened ... because it didn’t. These devices, as well as being totally useless in some cases, can also be quite expensive. You will need to take into account running costs, as well as the initial purchase of the device. In some cases, the cost might not even be worth it. There are plenty of cheaper AND easier options you can work through before that.
Erecting some sort of physical barrier, such as a fence, mesh wiring, or electric fencing, can have great success, especially if the fence is tall enough. You will need to bear in mind how large some of these graceful mammals can grow to. Again, if you have a lot of land to protect and cover, the costs involved with a fence installation can be high, and the type of fence you choose will have a big impact on the price. A tall and solid wooden fence could be quite unsightly and may block the light. They can occasionally act as a walkway too, leading other, smaller wild critters right to the areas of your home they’re dying to break into. Your attic is a prime example of this, with critters such as squirrels, raccoons, bats, and more. You certainly don’t want to remove a wild animal problem just to replace it with the same problem but different animal. Deer can cause extensive damage to your garden. Squirrels, rats and bats are just three examples of animals that can do great structural damage to buildings if the infestations are left for long enough.
Finally, we come to spray repellents and noise devices, which are frequently marketed as deer eviction devices and products. They’re pointless. The high pitch sound devices don’t seem to have much of an impact on how close the deer will get to your home. It won’t stop them from eating trees either. Wildlife eviction fluid can occasionally provide decent results, but is not a guaranteed method. Many homeowners have had even less success with commercial and homemade deer repellents than they’ve had with the sound devices!
For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How to Get Rid of Deer
How To Guide: Who should I hire? - What questions to ask, to look for, who NOT to hire.
How To Guide: do it yourself! - Advice on saving money by doing wildlife removal yourself.
Guide: How much does wildlife removal cost? - Analysis of wildlife control prices.