Muntjac deer

[Eric Hardy]

We have a great pest in muntjac deer. http://www.bds.org.uk/muntjac.html They live on the common in front of us and in the woods behind us. We have thick yew and holly hedges for boundaries except at the bottom which is a six feet high close boarded fence covered in greenery.  I buried stock fencing within the hedges years ago and they still manage to get in! If one gets in I try to creep up on them to see where they escape. As soon as they see you they bolt and make for the hedge. I keep my eye on the spots where they disappear and invariably there is the wire within the hedge and miraculously they disappear through it. It is as though they dematerialise!! Their great love is tulips and bluebells and we sometimes find them munched to the ground. Our defences are much better than they were and they only get in from time to time but that is much too often  Does anyone else suffer from these?

Eric H

[ideasguy]

In addition to the delicacies you offer, I note from that article that they also like Primulas. They seem to have good taste!
I havent noticed them in the wild in my region. Good luck with that problem Eric!

[roiphil]

Not muntjack but around about xmass time i was driving down the lane about 1/4 mile from home and a herd of deer ran out in front of me, must have been about 10 of them, it was a sight to see so many deer in the wild running across the road and jumping over the fences and ditches and dissapearing into the forest,

the only pests that break in round here are the horses which are in the fields i did have a fence until one decided it was a great place to scratch its neck on 

[NightHawk]

No problem with Muntjac Deer in our area either Eric (NE England).

Actually, we're not in a situation where we're near enough to the type of environment they favour.

Laurie.

[Eric Hardy]

"£$%^&*()_!!!!!! 
Friday evening: I forgot to close the gate after I drove the car into the garage from the Common in the dark.
Saturday morning: All the nice new tulip leaves that were showing in the tub by our front door nibbled right down to the earth! Muntjacs!!!!! 
There must be a moral to that story!

[ideasguy]

Awww... that is a crime (in every sense) Eric

The leaves appear first. I wonder if the flower stems push up later?

[Eric Hardy]

The leaves appear first. I wonder if the flower stems push up later

I inspected them just now and the leaves have pushed up about 1 1/2 inches since they were chewed off so I think (hope) we will get flowers but the leaves will have flat tops instead of pointed 

[ideasguy]

It will be interesting to see how they recover from that ordeal Eric.
Do they come back each year with your tub culture?

[Eric Hardy]

Do they come back each year with your tub culture?

Those bulbs remained in from last year. When they died down we planted pansies on top. I will be interested to see how they fare this year because normally we dig them up, lie them in a little trench until the leaves have died then we keep them in a dark dry place ready for planting the following season. At Chenies Manor where they put on a spectaculer show of tulips each year they never replant them, they always buy new. The bulbs from the previous year lie drying on a barn floor and the staff are allowed to help themselves.