It would be nice to think that in the winter, when all of the flowers are gone and the shrubs are protected, that we could rest for a few months. Not so. Yesterday afternoon, as we were sitting out at the firepit enjoying the mild weather with one last fire, we noticed that two of the mature Linden trees in the backyard had buck scrapes on them. Bad ones.
I used to protect these with tree tubes, but they have outgrown the tubes I have, even if I use two per tree. Tree trunks of this size aren't normally targeted. The bucks we usually have around are more likely to work on the slender fruit trees that are narrow enough to get in between the forks of their modest racks. This is a BIG buck. Something that we haven't caught on game cams yet.
Below is a photo from last year. We usually don't see bucks this big, but now and then one comes into the area. ...and leaves his mark
It was getting towards dusk when we noticed this. The first thing I did was protect the apple trees.
I already have tubes on the small Gala apple tree and the pear tree.
Even the apple trees require double tubes.
It was a tight fit. But I patched them together.
The third Linden is untouched. All I could think of was a pair of tomato ladders.
Today I replaced the tomato ladders with some proper hardware cloth, but I prefer the tree tubes because if he gets to rubbing on the hardware cloth, he can still abrade the tree.
And next year we will have to protect them again. This should not kill the otherwise healthy trees. But it will scar them up pretty badly.
Darn deer.
Darn deer is right! I am echoing your sentiment!
ReplyDeleteIts a bad year for deer here as well. The snow is not deep enough yet to encourage them to head to the winter yard, and they are waltzing all over the place, pawing up wherever there may be green stuff, and eating the little cedars right beside the house, which have never been touched before. I have the baby fruit trees encased with fencing.
Every year I have to train a new batch of deer. The young ones keep tasting and pushing boundaries. I used to tell my husband I wanted a paint ball gun so I could mark which ones I'd trained. But he figured I'd get charged with harassing the wildlife. What about them harassing me?
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