See your other post:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/do-deer-like-fir-dsvw-vd~4679374

Deer love fir trees.

Yes this is what I don't understand. If deer generally don't like spruces then why firs? They're pretty much very similar. Maybe spruces more spinier than firs but not by much. Also it is said that abies firma is considered deer resistant. So some firs maybe favored more by deer than others. This is why I ask about homolepis.

They deformed one Fraser Fir out of many, but have otherwise left them alone. They haven’t touched lasiocarpa, concolor, or koreana. They do seem to have a taste for the only fir native to this area, Balsam Fir.

I think it depends on what other choices the deer have and what weather conditions are like.

Deep snow and long cold spells may cause them to eat on a tree that they would normally ignore. It's a matter of survival to them more than anything.

I've said this many times, If it's a tree you care about, then protect it. At least until it's large enough so that a browsing or two won't totally ruin it.

If I was a collector of small cultivars, I would consider permanently fencing off the area a necessity.

any young tree is at risk for buck-rubbing. Fall is a great time to wrap trees in chicken wire.

Eventually I realized "deer" damaging a probably hybrid Korean fir I planted were actually rabbits.

Not really the answer I'm looking for. Without factoring in the 'depends', I am asking for the general resistance. You can say that berberis is not favored by deer but hostas are deer candy. Please put it in this kind of perspective. And to be clearer about my question I will ask which category would abies homolepis be in in this chart rated from rarely damaged, seldom severely damaged, occasionally severely damaged, frequently severely damaged. https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/

http://hort.uconn.edu/detail.php?pid=8 says that it is often damaged by deer but this website lists all of its abies species as 'often damaged by deer' so I don't think they're even carefully looking into it. They also don't have deer liability listed for any taxus species so something is wrong here. Can't rely on this website

Just like when the weather man forecast 100% chance of rain. Sometimes you get a sprinkle and sometimes a downpour but it's still a correct forecast.

The thing is, If it's your tree that gets hit by deer or rabbits, that's just 100% too much imo.

I cannot fine tune it more than that. Maybe someone else can split hairs on the subject.

Embo , were the rabbits rubbing their antlers on your fir ?

ron

It's unfortunate, but the sad answer is that nobody is doing research to see whether ultra-rare exotic species of fir suffer from deer browse when grown in suburban US neighborhoods. We need to see more funding for this sort of thing. I for one would like to take it a step further to look at ultra-rare cultivars of exotic species so they can be ranked for deer resistance. But government and USDA just don't seem concerned with the needs of rare plant collectors :0(

As with fungus diseases of roses likelihood and extent of deer damage to particular plants can't be consistently categorized in universally applicable ways. Except to say that if you plant where these animals are present without using any protective fencing your plants are way more vulnerable to any possible damage than if they had been effectively protected.

Of coarse, Embothrium said it better than I ever could. Thanks!

And that's the jest of what I was getting at.

Looking a heruga link to Rutgers: The Firs are in the 'C' range from I can see.

KEY:

A = Rarely Damaged
B = Seldom Severely Damaged
C = Occasionally Severely Damaged
D = Frequently Severely Damaged

And that will depend on how plentiful the animals are that inhabit the area and how tough of a time they are finding enough food to sustain themselves at that particular time of year.

I think whether they will eat a certain plant or not at all, would be enough information to know if you will need to protect it.

That's the bottom line. Doesn't matter if it's 'A' = rarely damaged, if it's my tree, it just wouldn't make sense for me to think that my tree will somehow be the one that doesn't get damaged.

And of coarse if you live inside of a large city but even then you might have rabbits.

Oh btw, nice Jackalope beng! :-)

I don't think abies homolepis is as exotic as people think. It might be rare in the sense that pinus wallichiana is not used often. This individual told me he grew abies homolepis for 20 something years in a wooded area that deer also inhabit and it hasn't ever been damaged by deer. Thats good to know. And thats somewhere in Pennsylvania.

I know I can just fence things out but fencing every little plant will be unsightly. If you say to fence your whole frontyard instead of fencing individual plants thats also unsightly. I have never seen a home with a 8 ft fence covering their whole front yard. But for me, I will never waste money or time trying to fence something that deer will most likely not eat such as berberis, convallaria majalis, and narcissus.(Not that I grow berberis, I hate those)

As mentioned above, deer will eat anything if they're desperate enough.

I work at a nursery that has above 4 million plants, 90% of which are Abies, Pinus, and Picea. We move "deer food" varieties under poly during the winter, and leave what they don't prefer outside. HOWEVER, last winter they were desperate, and although they don't normally eat Picea abies, they destroyed a block of about 30,000....

I know "it depends" isn't the answer you're looking for, but sometimes that's the best we can do.

Mother deer start teaching the babies what to feed on in the fall, so, if they "get a taste" for fir nearby, they will most likely come after you homolepis if left unprotected.

There are several biotic factors at play, most of which are related in ways outside our human capacity to figure out:: The relative ratio of suburban to urban to rural area, near you specifically, compared to the average number of deer per square acre, in your area, compared to the average age of mature deer in your area, compared to the average size herd, in your area, compared to the forest flora that's forageable in the winter, in your area, etc, etc, etc.

Yes and I am aware of that and have been since the beginning so nobody really needs to restate that. Do you call barberries deer candy? Obvious answer for anyone who isn't being a wiseass is a no. Do deer like daffodils as much as hostas? No. I don't care if they can be eaten if deer are hungry enough. If I get an abies homolepis for my front yard I WILL be fencing them no matter what. So whether to protect them or not is not my question rather I am asking about the level of preference deer has on abies homolepis or any plant I ask for deer resistance in a different thread. And yes you may say it depends on the particular deer but there are generalities like I mentioned with the comparison between barberry and hosta. Deer generally leave barberry alone. Deer generally devour hostas. Generally

I really hope people understand the type of answer I'm looking for even in future threads I ask about deer resistance.

And you really need to understand that you will NOT get a firm answer!! Sorry :-) There are very few plants that will not get at least sampled by deer, especially early in the season when young deer are present. They will try anything to see if they like it. And how hard they may feed on any given plant throughout the year will depend heavily on access to other food sources and competition for those sources.

While there are some plants deer can be expected to leave alone for varying reasons there is ALWAYS the possibility they will ignore those expectations. This season the deer that visit my garden have browsed on plants most sources indicate as deer resistant. Deer obviously pay no attention to 'deer resistant' plant listings!!

I tell my clients to expect deer damage on just about anything and to take whatever steps they deem appropriate to prevent. Damage may not be constant or severe but on very young or newly planted material, it may be enough to permanently damage or distort the plant. Or in rare cases, even kill it.

I see sprouts of blackberries and raspberries chewed off by deer. And trust me, the thorns are small but still very sharp on these sprouts. They also eat death-angel mushrooms (deadly to people). So, as gal says, no plant is immune.

Another solution is to mix hot sauce with water and spray it on trees you wish to protect...

Deer have routes. They feed on those routes until they're forced off of them, either by obstruction, or for lack of forageable material. If you are in their path, and you don't have the means to obstruct and redirect it, you can fence your trees to protect them, primarily from rubbing, and you can also spray a tabasco sauce and water mix. They'll only take one bite and be done... There are formulas online. Mostly developed by rhododendron and hosta gardeners over the years..