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Fruit & Orchards

Deer destroyed my Asian pear trees last night

14 years ago

I have been eagerly awaiting to try some Asian pears and had some really nice ones on my new trees I had planted this year. I had fenced the trees off with heavy plastic fencing about shin to eye level high. Every day I would go in my back yard to examine them and check on their development, cradling the pears in my hand anticipating their ripening to fruition.

When I woke op this morning I had found the trees shredded and ripped in half. All the pears had been striped and the branches strewn around the yard. Sickening how nature works sometimes - they come in the night and I wake up to their destruction.

But I guess it reminds me that nature does not bow to me ~ I bow to nature.

Next season will try it all over again and replace the trees with new ones and heavy metal fencing from ankle high to over my head in height.

"When the sun rises I go to work,

When the sun goes down, I take my rest,

I dig the well from which I drink,

I farm the soil that yields my food,

I share creation, Kings can do no more."

Ancient Chinese, 2500 BC

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Comments (6)

denninmi
14 years ago
I had a similar problem about 8-10 years ago, a large deer herd eating everything. Worst damage was in the late summer-early fall, when the bucks would use my young fruit trees to polish their antlers and rub off the itchy "velvet." They killed a few, and maimed some others that did survive.

I had to do as you suggest, putting fences made of six foor wire mesh around each tree -- about 50 trees total.

Since then, our deer herd in the neighborhood has declined a lot. The neighbor two doors down had the misfortune of hitting 3 deer with her car with a one year period -- her insurance agent couldn't believe it. I almost hit them a couple of times. Enough of them got killed on the roads that the population has dropped significantly.

I have a fawn living in my yard right now -- quite small when I saw it about 5 weeks ago for the first time. I likes to spend the days in my corn and under my blackberry bushes, and, of course, it is stripping things at night, like collards, kale, soybeans, etc. I'm cutting things down as soon as they are havested, like the sweet corn, to remove cover and hopefully make "Bambi" move on to greener pastures.
flora2b
14 years ago
Are you sure it is deer and not a bear? Usually the deer eat all the leaves and fruit, but usually they don't shred and rip apart the trees all in one night!
Sorry for your loss.....I know how you feel.....I just put up two deer fences this year as I was tired of the competition.
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Thanks scottfsmith! It seemed like spraying helped (and I found aphids on the tip leaves of both my pears). I am loathe to squish anything between my fingers but became so frustrated I finally did press the leaves together and rub in an effort to smash aphids without destroying the top growth. My top leaves on the Asian Pear died anyway but they seemed worse than my Turnbull Pear when I discovered the aphids. It is probably too early to tell if the problem is really resolving, but if not, I will take a pic and post it. I did definitely have a worm issue and aphid problems. I noticed a small scar on the Asian Pear trunk bark today about 18-24 inches above ground and hope its not fireblight. I have several animals in the back yard from time to time and they like to rub and get up against the trees also so I sort of thought they may have been the problem. The trunk is only about 1" diameter and animals could have damaged it although that seems a little high for my cats and small dog. Pics of fireblight have me worried. The sites recommend pruning 12 inches below any damage for fireblight, and since it's a young 6-8 ft tree, it seems crazy to cut it down nearly to the ground. I sure hope that is not what caused the bark damage I saw.
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Sharppa, From what I've gathered from several experts here, for peach, each problem is treated with different chemicals at different time. Peach leaf Curl and backterial leaf spot, I use copper during dormant season. I use copper hydroxide (Kocide 3000) in late fall and early spring. For brown rot, some use Monterey Fungi Fighter about a month before harvest. Otheres use Captan (which also helps with peach scab). I have not used any. So far, brown rot is not too severe for me (yet). Peach scab, some use Captan, I use wettable sulfur (not as effective but, to me, it's less harmful than Captan). You should add sticker such as Bonide Turbo or NuFilm 17 so the chemicals stay on trees longer. As for insects, I also use Triazicide but some here don't think it works for them. I work for me. I don't use immunox on peach. It does not help. Immunox is famous for preventing Cedar Apple Rust on apples in the spring. I'll see if I could answer your Asian pears on another post. I have 4 Asian pear varieties and more than 4 pear problems!!! By the way, what part of the country you live. It can make a difference.
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LOL, there is a story behind the stakes and string. The tree hadn't gotten a good deep water for a while because we have been in drought conditions this year and I am in the mountain desert. It gets hit by the sprinklers a couple times a week, but I figured it would be good to go around and give all the trees a nice deep soak. I accidentally forgot about it and went about doing other things. Suddenly I heard a crash outside and saw my patio furniture flying across the yard as a severe storm cell blew in out of nowhere; 40mph winds with 60-70mph gusts and we are up on a hillside with no protection. I looked out at that little cherry and it had accidentally been soaking for so long that there was about 2" of standing water around it and the soil was pure mush. The wind was just about to lay it over as I had only planted it a few months earlier. So I jumped over there and pounded in a couple stakes and tied it up to give it a little extra support. That was about a month ago and I haven't thought about taking them out since. :D
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calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
14 years ago
I don't think it was deer either. Bear or a family of raccoons is more likely. Al
garbird
14 years ago
Where do you live, allenwrench? It sounds more like a bear,but deer can do alot of damage when the bucks are polishing there antlers this time of year. I have never seen a deer tear a tree in half though. Usually they just shred the bark, eat the fruit and leaves. I always try to thin the deer herd by putting away a good amount of venison every year.
garbird
tdave8666
14 years ago
REALLY. . . . .BIG. . . . .BUCKET!
garbird
14 years ago
I wish I had the space to grow fruit trees. I have a recipe for a fruit salsa that goes great with grilled fish. The Asian pears are really great in it ( love the crisp texture), but right now they are selling for $3.99 each at my local grocery stores.
garbird

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