come November I hunt for whitetail.. they are beautiful... but very invasive.....we aren't wooded around my home enough to have the whitetail in our backyards but we do have our fair share of cottontails... I've recently been seeing several out in the yard that couldn't be more than a month old.. they are pretty cute.. fortunately they don't seem to have a taste for hosta =) pretty much the only thing invasive on my hosta are slugs and bombardments of bird poo lol

This was in December, and the hosta were sleeping. They amble through pretty much every day but they seem to prefer ventricosa and lancifolia, of which I have many scattered around, to any of the fancier ones.

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Paul

Oh Hosta Junkie, you have no idea how timely your post is! Just about an hour ago, my dog started going crazy at the door leading to the back yard. I thought a squirrel had come on the deck, but when I went to look, there was a doe eating out of a hanging tube bird feeder about 6 feet from the door!

She completely ignored the dog and I called my husband to come see, otherwise I figured no one would believe me. I wish I had gotten the camera. She continued licking the birdseed out of the feeder until I clicked the door and began to let the dog out.

She had jumped the fence into the yard and walked past the hosta bed to get to the feeder. I am SOOO glad I renewed the Liquid Fence last Thursday, it seems to be working.

That fawn is so beautiful!

chris

They are cute when they are not eating our hosta. My kids called me at work one day and said there was a fawn in their soccer net. Odd place to leave the baby in the middle of our back yard not hidden, a couple of days after that she was left well hidden in my garden. We have lots of deer here and she really was pretty cute. They have a trail that goes through the middle of our back yard and my hubby installed a split rail fence to the back of my hosta garden and for the most part they don't eat my hosta anymore, they do eat way to much of my garden though.

The only good deer is one that is gutted and hanging. The basterds ate the tops of my tomatoes and chili peppers a couple of nights ago, so I renewed the Liquid Fence. Last night they topped the daylilys on one side of the house.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Alexa

We were entertaining on our deck and in the screen porch last night. Near dark our guests were more than a little startled when I stood up, politely excused myself, then returned without comment carrying my pellet gun, popped one into the flank of a large deer in the neighbors yard, then casually propped the gun by the door and continued our conversation...

Doesn't do any long-term damage, but I like to think "stinging them" makes it a little more likely they will enjoy the greenery a lot or two farther down...

Well, Jim, that's certainly one way to let your guests know you expect them to be on good behavior!!!! Too funny!

Chris, the deer love to taunt my dogs by hanging out just outside the fence area. As if to say "me? you're talking to me??" No fear of them whatsoever. Or me, for that matter. I've been able to get within ten feet of them before they finally decide to exit stage left.

I luckily don't have to deal with deer, but friends do, and apparently neem oil makes a good deer repellant. Mix a bit with water and a drop of dishwashing oil, and needs to be resprayed after every rain. Totally non toxic.

Another friend swears by wolf urine, which she buys at a local nursery.

Timely subject
A half hour ago I saw a doe eating grass near my veggie and perennial garden and thought it's time to get out the Liquid Fence - it really works well. The doe moved on rather briskly and out pops a bull moose via the perennial bed. They are infrequent visitors and I haven't been outside yet to see if it's fed on any perennials but I'm sure it probably flattened a few.

I'm on my way out now to buy some liquid fence, something I've never tried before. But the time has come! Yesterday, I scared off a beautiful big doe, over my wife's protests. This morning, I awoke to see a gaping hole in one of the hosta beds where half of August Moon and most of Abba Dabba Do were gone. They seem to like the light green color.

I still love the deer, they are so beautiful, especially the babies. We put up a deer fence along the woods and now they leave me alone. It is heartbreaking to go out and find your hostas mowed down, been there.

Sometimes they are so smart, they come in through our driveway. What I did notice is they only bothered the old solid green junk hostas. Couldn't figure out why, then I thought maybe because all of my good hostas and roses get the Bayer 2 in 1 applied every 6 weeks or so. Maybe something in that makes them taste bad.

Alexa is awesome lol and idiothe is great lol.... a fantastic deer repellent and a great addition to any garden is salvia... for some reason deer hate this close cousin to sage... most claim full to partial sun for salvia but closer investigation proves salvia to grow well in shade...most will stay in bloom from early summer til frost.. by its own means or deadheading.. and I think it would look great next to some hosta!

Hosta_junkie, I adore your first photo, absolutely precious!

All babies are cute. That's one way the survival of the species is ensured, I think.

I love the photos too!