It's called Nite Guard Solar.

I could see it working for a short time...

Animals eventually will smarten up - especially if you don't move them around....

Remember that they have excellent senses of smell... If the motion doesn't trigger for whatever reason - they will go over and smell to see what it is.... Then - the light goes on and it doesn't scare them off anymore...

Thanks

That 9 ft fence is a really good start.. How many deers going to jump that? How big is your orchard?

Joe

Mabey i'm over-paranoid after putting so much work in and having this set back from my friend leaving the gate open. They have not ever gottten in since I wrapped the extra 3 ft of plastic fence around the top of my 6ft metal one. Before the plastic they were jumping over.
The fenced in part is about half an acre with 18 trees that i'm planning to let be trees and a bunch of miniatures and elders and figs that will be kept short, a row of 25 blueberries along the western border and rows of farm crops.
Any suggestions on what to do for the ones that had already put on lots of growth and got munched back to nothing? Thanks

Oh, all first year trees. Mostly bare root this winter.

Jumping a 9ft fence is probably out of the league of most 4-leg critters...

Smaller ones climbing it is a different story... but those are fruit stealers, not tree munchers...

How about putting a spring-closer return deal on your gate door? That way - it would automatically swing back shut if left open...

Thanks

Cut off any broken branches but otherwise let the trees grow back some before doing too much. After they regrow some you can tidy up anything else that's out of place. You might also need to choose new growth headed in the best direction. Cut out stuff growing the wrong way. The trees should recover fine since the roots are intact.

I'd be very surprised if any deer challenges your 9ft fence. Mine only once cleared even 5ft when they weren't accustom to feeding there. After that lone raid I raised it to 8ft and haven't been bothered since.

But to return to the original topic. Presumably the red eye is more effective if it is within a fence. That way they can not smell it. Presumably, it will help if you urinate around the perimeter, and you put down blood meal. All give clues that this place is unfriendly. I have just bought, but not applied yet, 100 lbs of blood meal, I was considering the red eye, and I do other things, such as, when I found a deer leg gnawed by coyotes, I picked it up and put it in the back of the orchard.

I am doing all this to grow shrubs that will obscure a fence that will protect the orchard. I have to do it while in compliance of an HOA, so something else is needed to protect the shrubs while they grow (the trees are currently individually fenced in winter).

I spent 20 mins on Amazon to read the reviews. I searched for the string "deer" only as many people use it for predators. It works somewhat (there are two brands). It seems to work best in rural areas and worst where artificial lights are abundant. In some cases it works until the deer figure out what it is (therefore, with an existing fence, it will work better as they can not get close), perhaps for a month.

The lights give the deer a visual clue to stay out. The blood meal or predator urine an olfactory clue. I think that inside a fence this thing is more likely to work than motion-activated sprinklers.

If youare that paranoid.. Crush a few cloves of garlic and let it ferment in a a bucket of water, strain, and spray around the parameter of your property, or on the plants themselves.. Or you could even grow garlic or any plant that deters deer around the parameter.. It worked wonders! I had a similar predicament.. I moved in and the former owners ha a cheap 3-4 foot fence.. Deer could crawl over it.. I bought 8 foot stakes and ran string along them to make a string fence,if you will.. Worked wonders and it was cheap! If you are still paranoid, you could place a line of string a few feet on the outside of your fence and the deer would have to jump that along with the 8 foot fence,making it impossible.. Unless it's rudolf who flys! But I agree, the biggest concern you have now, is the damn squirrels an birds.. Your next investment is some bird netting...

Joe

You know, my deer eat whole garlic plants. don't make sweeping conclusions, raw. the redeye will either work or not. If it does it is money well spent, without any fermentation involved. we all strive to do only constructive work in the garden, such as pruning or picking, and it irritates me as much as the OP that we have to spend a large fraction of our time on deer. overwhelming force or overwhelming fear is all they understand 100% of the time. Unpleasant smells are bound to work a smaller fraction of the time.

Thanks everyone for the defense advice and fruitnut for the pruning/non-pruning advice. Phhew.. i'm a little lighter after reading that.
Before I got this place and put up the fence a year ago, this place, especially the field, was a regular deer feeding/bedding grounds and thoroughfare to other unfenced properties and wild zones. It was that way for many years I'm told. Even my house was un-occupied for 2 years before i got it. They are just outside the fence daily, seemingly plotting. Hopefully they will get used to going around.
My neighbor is buying the Nite guard for his place so i will see how they work for him. And encourage him to still keep his gate closed too.
Thanks again.