Been having deer problems all summer, they have been eating most of my tomatoes, beans and summer squash. Just this past Friday they attacked some new figs I just got from Michael in warranton. So sad, I thought they didn't bother figs? Has anyone else had damage? Thanks for letting me vent!

Deer will sample any plant to figure out if it is good to eat or not.  The young half grown fawns use to come in the yard and try the leaves off the citrus trees but they learned quickly they weren't good and would leave them alone.  My bet is that will happen with your figs as well.   Eventually I just fenced the entire property to keep them out and has been paradise since.  

WillsC, how high is your fence? I'm leaning toward that direction.

boy, everyone says the latex makes them unpalatable. i was counting on that because cattle get thru  my bob wire all the time.

any chance deer have over populated your area and are starving?

It is 5 feet tall with another wire at 6 and 7 feet.  Florida deer are smaller than northern deer, you may need 8 feet. 

Susie, yes we do have a huge population here. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people who do not believe in controlling them. As a result, we have damage to our yard and cars, especially this time of the year. And they do starve during the winter months. I'm currently looking into a program for hunters for hunger, don't know if I got that right and deer spray. My old trick of blood meal and my Doug's hair is not working this year.

Dog hair, hate auto correct. LOL

My parent used to hang bars of soap from young tree's in Colorado.  That kept the bucks off of them in the summer.  Ivory soap if I remember correctly.

Might have to try the soap trick, at this point, I'll try anything. Please keep sending the hints, I'm sure the program will not get back to me until next year.

Many deers come to my house all most everyday. They did many damages to many of my fig trees too. They like to eat young leaves. They ate all the leaves on a few of my fig trees many times during the spring until now. 

Best, 
Tam

Tam, how's your young figs doing after the damage? I'm hoping mine will have enough time to recover.

We have lots of deer around my yard.  They come to visit the pear tree.  Luckily, they don't bother the fig trees.  I do have them caged though.  Not taking any chances.

Cz model 550 chambered in 6.5x55 swedish would take care of the deer

Rookie, so funny, if you hear of a fig nut going to jail for shooting within fairfax county, that would be me and please post some bail! We are not even allowed to shoot a pellet gun in this county! LOL

Ok, Frank, I'm seeing this 5 feet diameter cage around your tree? You might be on to something! Maybe a cage made of chicken wire around the pot?

deer are cute only when the population is strictly controlled. i've hit them twice in upstate ny. one was a glancing blow. the other caused $2200 damage besides scaring me witless.

shoot 'em n eat 'em, i say.

I always thought deer disliked the smell of humans, that's what the hunters say. Why don't you guys just have a whiz or two around the perimeter of your property?

i think sophie's right. i've often heard of human urine being a good repellent.

Not only that Susie, I also heard it's a great fertilizer too. Cheap and effective!

You guys need to get busy! LOL

Drinking beer as we email.

giggle.

I think the smell of humans really only scares off a deer during hunting season.  And deer are also smart enough to know where they will be hunted. 

V Kay: The damaging trees grew new leaves back, but the trees took longer to establish. If they eat the bud tips, they will take much longer to grow the side branches and leaves back. The saliva in their mouths carries many viruses and could spread fig viruses from an infected trees to the other healthy trees.

Best,
Tam 

Ugh! They damaged 3 new seedlings and ate the main bud. So, I guess It might be a year or two before I get to taste any of the new varieties.