What do deer eat?

[Duer 157099]

I don't mean in the wild, I know that they graze on vegetation, but there are several deer that I see daily that I'd like to give some snacks to and was wondering what they would like. Applies? Carrots? Fruit? Nuts?

[EmeraldCityGrl]

1. Put out a salt block.

Deer need salt in their diet. They will come and lick the block and it gives you a chance to take pics.

Any feed store has them.

[Inchworm]

3. Careful here. It may not be legal where you live

Not accurate but it's all I found looking real quick. Some call it baiting.

http://www.lucky-buck.com/baitinglaws.html

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Plus deer that become acclimated to humans and their scent are less likely

to run away when being hunted.

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

46. This is just more of the mindset that says that

the state bureaucrats on deer regulation know best how to control our population and that we can't do it ourselves by deciding whether or not to feed them.

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

47. Also, we've had the same deer coming by for years

I swear they're the exact same ones, only older now. They know where the food is. They've suffered no ill effects from the food.

[NOMOREDRUGWAR]

45. Who gives a crap

No offense but if I want to feed deer, I'm going to feed deer. I don't care what the law is. My state (New York) has such a law banning deer feeding and I still feed them from my garden. If some bureaucrat showed up at my door and told me to stop then I would tell them to fuck off. Public opinion would definitely be on my side as well.

[KT2000]

2. Had a friend

who raised a deer. After she was full grown she would return to the house for treats - fruits such as apples and plums.
The deer eat the apples off of my trees. They ate my strawberries too.

[Inchworm]

4. Best to yell and scream at them if near a road

:P

They like fallen apples.

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

5. Deer Chow?

[Petrushka]

6. Deer will eat anything in the garden that you're planning to pick tomorrow!

Corn, pole beans, tomatoes, you name it . . . in addition to your favorite flowers, bushes, and trees (the bark), they'll eat any vegetable, fruit, or herb you might think of as "people food" . . . the deer that made nightly raids on my garden back in West Virginia eventually developed a taste for such gourmet ingredients as shallots.

Anyway . . .

Two years before my mother died, she had new neighbors (city folk relocated to a rural hilltop) who began setting food out for wild deer so they could watch all the Bambi mommies from the windows . . . until, that is, October weather became rainy, cold, and/or windy on that hill. It was then that the new folks could no longer be bothered to venture outdoors, not with all the new TV programs to be watched . . . so, of course, that's when the new neighbors' moooching herd of disinvited guests ended up on my 80-year-old mother's property where, in less than two nights, they destroyed more than 40 years worth of Mom's painstaking, backbreaking landscaping work in addition to her kitchen garden.

So . . . (** :shrug: **) . . .

Unless you have no neighbors nearby, puh-leeze think twice before providing snacks for the deer!

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. I second that.

Deer get their food naturally and do not need snacks.
They love to eat roses, this I know.
And anything in a vegetable garden.

We have enough woods that we see the occasional deer, and I have lived where they were plentiful to the point of being a nuisance.
If you have close by neighbors, pls. re-think training the deer to wander into yards.

[zanana1]

19. Hosta plants are considered ice cream by most deer. nt

[mattvermont]

9. best deer food is

a big lump of intra-cranial lead therapy.

[CBGLuthier]

10. ain't you the cute one

My uncle Jack died a few weeks ago. He took more than a few dear in his life being a true outdoorsman living in a holler in Kentucky.

But he did it respectfully. They ate the meat and never made jokes about killing animals.

[mattvermont]

12. I do not hunt

but I farm...have invested 50K in enclosing our fields with 8 ft fences. Herds of 50 or more are often seen grazing near the farm. Before the fence, they could ruin 500 heads of lettuce in one night. I do eat deer when it is given to me. I do not distinguish much between deer and the woodchuck, skunk, raccoon, bunnies, voles, coyotes etc. that I must battle daily.

[LynneSin]

13. I have farmers in my family and understand your challenges

To them a hunter is a blessing since they'll thin out the pests that cost them money. Pests that include deer.

[Petrushka]

16. Here's what a hunter friend of mine posted on his Facebook Wall yesterday:

Dear Bambi,

I'd like to invite you to a free, yes FREE, feast of corn on Saturday morning. Rain or Shine. There will be plenty of corn at the feeder behind the house near the lake. Never mind the faint smell of humans. They were there filling the feeder with fresh corn. Please arrive after 6:45 as the hunters, uh I mean people, will not be there before that time. Your older brother, dad or grandfather is also more than welcomed to attend the feast.

Your "friend" in the woods

-------------------------------

BTW: Bambi's "friend" hunts not only in order to keep meat on his family's table but, also, to help reduce an overpopulated deer herd "...behind the house near the lake."





:hi:

[Brickbat]

11. Why do you want to feed them? It would be like feeding rats or mice. They're destructive and

voracious. And if you live in town, it might have an ordinance against feeding deer. On top of that, you acclimate them to getting food from houses or humans. No thanks.

[Major Nikon]

40. You certainly won't en-deer yourself to your neighbors

[Raven]

14. A couple of things about feeding deer...

If you live anywhere near a road, which most people do, you should not feed them because it may encourage them to cross the road to get to the food.

If you have pets, you shouldn't try to attract deer because of deer ticks.

Except for extreme conditions, there is usually enough food in the natural environment for deed.

There is a wonderful book entitled "The Hidden Life of Deer" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas who is the author of "The Hidden Life of Dogs" which is well worth reading. :-)

[MrsBrady]

25. deer ticks can get on people

any wild animal can carry disease and pets.

[RebelOne]

15. Plant some really beautiful flower beds.

The deer will make short work of those.

[dimbear]

28. This is the exact fact. Particularly partial to roses.

Don't seem to mind thorns at all.

(Why mine are in window boxes six feet off the ground now.)

[bananas]

17. Lichen. nt

[Highway61]

18. I feed them every night

I absolutely LOVE them. Apples, apples and more apples...cut up along with bread. Come winter...Hay and "Deer food" (50 lb bag about $12 at pet stores) They come like clock work every evening. Some of my buddies

[Duer 157099]

30. OMG those are so cute!

Although I'm sufficienty afraid of deer ticks that I would not touch them, tempted as I would be.

Those look like the ones that hang around here, those eyes, it is so hard to resist wanting to give them something to eat, especially at this time of summer when everything is so dry and brown around here.

There is no hunting here, and it is private property, and it is far away from roads, so many concerns upthread are not applicable. But I worry about attracting too many groups and them sharing diseases, that is a real concern. Plus, the young, of which there are many, not learning to provide for themselves. Honestly, I know that most of these deer are destined to be cat food (cougars, that is) so it's not like they'll have long lives. I see the young male deer with small racks, but never ever see ones with large racks, so something is culling the herd efficiently.

Cute photos! :hi:

[whistler162]

20. They like green

Solyent Green that is....

[hedgehog]

21. It's not a kindness to feed the deer. They are best off living as small

isolated herds. Attract too many to the same feeding spot and you're apt to encourage disease, not the least of which is a prion disease similar to mad cow.

Consider too, that a large deer herd will attract predators such as coyotes and cougars.

[Burma Jones]

22. Tulips are Deer Chocolate

My 5yo daughter got it in her head that Deer eat people. My 13yo son is the likely culprit.

The deer around my place will eat almost any vegetation, They are particularly fond of the apples that fall off our trees.

[Recovered Repug]

23. Generally, I think it's a bad idea to feed wild critters.

It would be best for them to let them feed naturally - they need to maintain a healthy fear of humans.

[Duer 157099]

31. I know what you mean

Although the ones I'm seeing don't seem terribly afraid of people, although they also don't approach you and keep a close eye on where you are at all times.

The thing that worries me for them more than anything is that as they stray away from their "home" they tend to end up dead on the highway, which is why I was thinking that if they could find food in a safe place, they wouldn't stray.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. Popcorn. Especially caramel-coated popcorn balls. Mmmmm.

I got a better idea: Don't feed them, just take pictures and post them here.

:hi:

[smirkymonkey]

26. I hear what they really like best is Venison with Lingonberry

sauce, lyonnaise potatoes and braised radicchio, with a nice glass of port and some crepes suzette for dessert.

However, I can't get them out of my house and they are constantly taking up all the space in bed. They are cute, though. :P

[GoCubsGo]

27. "Deer" corn

Or, as I call it, "deer chum". It's what hunters put out to get deer to keep visiting a particular spot. You can buy it at any hunting and fishing suppliers. I believe Tractor Supply sells it, as well. The corn that's sold for squirrels would work just as well if you aren't near a place that sells hunting supplies. I'm sure they'd love apples and carrots, too.

[tblue]

29. Does eat oats and mares eat oats...

[Tuesday Afternoon]

32. they ate my roses one year -- they also ate my hosta blooms this year.

:(

[emilyg]

33. Grass, corn and pears.

[MiddleFingerMom]

34. During the 80's, I was growing deep in the woods ("Australian tomatoes", if you must ask. Why?)

.
.
.
Some sort of critter was nibbling the tops of the young plants until they had grown to
a height of about 1-2 feet tall... then they went unmolested 'til they were about 4 feet
tall or so -- then nibbled damn near down to the ground. Took me forever to figure out
a deterrent (about a 5% solution of Tobasco/water sprayed on the leaves and resprayed
after every rain).
.
I always figured it was deer munching on the taller plants.
.
Decimated 90% of my crop.
.
.
.
I didn't much like deer that year. My sammitches weren't HALF as appealing without
those tomatoes.
.
.
.

[Mendocino]

35. Feed them nothing.

It hurts them in the long run.

[Javaman]

36. People. Soylent Green, it's not just for people anymore. nt

[bif]

37. A better question is: what DON'T they eat.

[LiberalEsto]

38. They just took a huge chomp out of my pole beans

The trellis had tipped over in the recent heavy rains, and they reached in and grabbed everything they could. Between the stink bugs and the deer, it's been a bad year for beans.

[sinkingfeeling]

39. They love turnips.

[Avalux]

41. Apples. They love apples, especially old mushy ones.

From experience. ;-)

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

42. There are these weird little black/brown oval things

They look kind of like coffee beans. I've never tried the stuff, but it is always found where the deer have been.
I can only ASSume that those little piles of bean things are a staple for them.



























Oh wait, I just realized you meant eating not excreting...

[LiberalEsto]

43. My dogs LOVE those!

It's one of their favorite treats.

The other day my dog Penny was eating them, barfing them up, and re-eating them.

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. Message Deleted. Name Removed.

test. disregard please