Do Deer eat Potatoes? (10+ Tested Ways to Keep them out of your Garden)
Before I started growing potatoes, I was aware that they were beloved not only by humans but also by deer. I worried about the possibility of them being eaten by deer, so I took the time to learn how to protect my garden from these animals before planting. And guess what? I succeeded and now I’m enjoying my homegrown potatoes.
I believe it’s important to share this knowledge rather than keeping it to myself, so I want to share with you the steps you can take if you’re also concerned about deer damaging your potato crop.
In this informative guide, I’ve outlined in detail over 10 tested methods to keep deer away from your potatoes. If you still have any doubts, feel free to ask me in the comment section below.
Quick takeaways:
- Potatoes are one of the most common vegetables that are grown by almost every farmer and they are loved by both humans and animals.
- Some mammals tend to eat potatoes and spoil the garden. One of those animals is deer.
- Deer are known as ruminant animals which shows that they are unique.
- They can eat any kind of food and can digest it easily.
- The main goal is to eat plants, fruits, vegetables, trees, and others.
- The available vegetables in their area attract them and they eat them.
Do Deer Eat Potatoes?
Being herbivore animals, deer are always there to eat the plants to satisfy their hunger. Deer do not like to eat fish, meat, etc due to their taste buds, they become even more excited about the food.
They can get to know about the nearer planted plants as they have a sensitive tongue. Here the matter is do they eat potatoes? Yes, deer eat potatoes and they can even eat the potato plant.
During the summertime and springtime, deer will attract anything green which is the plant growth stage. It involves flowers, fruits, vegetables, grass, leaves, etc. You must clear yourself or prepare yourself so that they will eat anything from your garden just like the potatoes.
If Deer eat potatoes that you have grown for yourself, then what will you get? So, it is better to take some precautions so that they do not eat them and you enjoy your vegetation. If you live in an area, where there are more deer, then you should try to ignore growing the plant that they love to eat.
10+ Tested Ways to Keep them out of your Garden
As mentioned, deer love to eat potatoes, but they are harming your garden area so you need to stop them and keep them away from your garden. So, let’s know some of the best-tested ways to keep them out of your garden. They are:
1. Make use of fences
One of the best options for keeping the deer away from your garden is by building fences. As they have good height, you should avoid the small fences as they can cross them and enter your garden.
Make that fire fence that should be 7 to 8 feet high as the deer won’t be able to cross it. It will even help you keep more animals like raccoons, rats, and rabbits away from your garden area and protect your vegetation.
2. Take advantage of motion-activated sprinkler
One can use the other way to keep deer out of the garden by using a motion-activated sprinkler. Deer get scared to hear loud voices, so it is a great chance for you to use it.
3. Make use of the spices
As we know, deers do not like to go to any place when it comes to spices. It will harm their nose conditions by making them uncomfortable and this somehow impacts their senses. So, the best way to use the spices is by sprinkling them around your plants or in the whole garden to get rid of them.
Some of the peppers or spices that are not liked by the deer are cinnamon, cayenne pepper, hot chili flakes, chili powder, etc.
4. One can use deer netting
You can even use the deer netting to keep the squirrels away. It won’t let the deer enter the garden area. It gets set up in the same way as a fence. You should make it much higher so that they cannot cross it.
5. Repellent sprays can be an option
One of the suitable options for you is to use a deer repellent spray that does not allow the deer to come into the garden.
You can even use the rotten eggs to keep the deer outside your garden. The smell produced by the egg mixed with cloves and garlic can easily help you to get rid of the deer.
6. You can make a Decoy Garden
Folks, another option for keeping the deer away from your garden is to make a decoy garden which means that you have to plant other plants in your garden so that it gets distracted from your potatoes. Some plants can attract animals to potatoes.
7. Try to settle the bird feeders
Deer attract to your garden as they see a variety of food sources there that is why they come to your garden area.
One of the common ones is bird feeders that can be eaten easily. As deer love to eat seeds and also corn, you can give them that so that they won’t harm your plant as they are getting sufficient from the bird mixes.
8. You can use the Soapy idea
You might be thinking, what is this soapy idea? Guys, you can take a nylon stocking if you have them in your home or purchase it as spring soap for them.
By doing this, you can hang it on the tree so that you can keep the deer out of the garden, but why? The scent produced by it won’t be liked by the deer and will keep the deer out.
9. Plant the companion plants
By planting companion plants, you can distract deer from your garden area so that they do not eat your potatoes. There are various deer-resistant plants such as garlic, poppies, lavender, daffodils, etc. so, they can stop eating your potatoes and this is how you protect your potatoes.
10. Use of any strong smell
Guys last but not least, this can be a great idea to produce any strong scented smell in your garden area. Deer do not like the smell of any strong scent. You can even use garlic and because of its smell, deer do not like to come to your garden area.
Concluding lines
In this guide, you come to know that Potatoes are loved not only by humans but even by animals. Some mammals tend to eat potatoes and spoil the garden. One of those animals is deer. Deer are known as ruminant animals which shows that they are unique. They can eat any kind of food and can digest it easily. Read the article so that you come to know how to remove deer from your garden so that you get fruitful results.
FAQs
1. Do deers have a digestive system?
Yes, they do have a digestive system as they tend to eat unique varieties of plants. The digestive system helps them to digest that food.
2. Are deer attracted to eggplants?
Deer are not attracted to the root plants such as lavender, lemon, parsley, and others. They are less drawn toward the eggplant.
3. Do deer eat sweet potatoes?
Yes, they can eat sweet potatoes and they even eat the whole plant when they are too hungry.