KIRKSVILLE, MO -- With the recent cold snap and snowfall we had this week, many of you in the heartland have probably noticed some four legged friends stopping by your yard. An increased number of deer have been seen in people's backyards in the past few days invading their landscapes. According to John Murphy of the Missouri Department of Conservation, the winter months leave a lack vegetation in open field area causing them to go more near populated suburban areas to find any grass or wood from trees.
"Other food sources are not as abundant as they were three months ago. So they are looking for those food sources that are what it's translating to." Murphy said.
So how can you keep your landscapes deer free?
Murphy says ne of the ways to prevent this early is by population reduction.
“The only long term solution is harvest control in the form of hunting. A lot of times in our rural areas, we've got good regulations in place that will allow folks during the regular hunting season to take some of the numbers of deer off of a certain area.”
Murphy said there are also some short term solutions.
"One of which is exclusion and that's fencing. You can use electric fencing, that's an education issue on the deer; you're educating the deer to avoid that area.” Murphy said. “Another short term solution is repellents. You can be more specific on the plants you want to protect. They have foul taste to them or an odor, so you can be specific."
If you happen to see a deer in your backyard, there is something you can do to get it off your property.
"The best thing to do is to scare them off. Unless they are domesticated, they will run off. Then you can start thinking about what things you can do to keep them away from the prized landscapes you have." Murphy said.
The bottom line is there is no 100% guarantee to keep your landscape deer free. Deer is just a part of life here in Northeast Missouri.
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