May 27, 2012, Lancaster Eagle Gazette
By Jessica Alaimo
CentralOhio.com
With 4,500 unique types of trees, Dawes Arboretum is like a
Vegas-style all-you-can-eat buffet for the state's increased deer
population.
Director of horticulture Mike Ecker has tried a number
of tactics to keep them away. But here's the thing about the
four-legged herbivores: They're smart little buggers. Ecker, who has
been at the Newark arboretum since 1983, has tried a number of tactics.
He tried putting garlic cloves around the plants. That didn't work. He
tried baiting an electric fence with peanut butter. After some trial and
error, the deer ignored the peanut butter and hopped the fence.
He
hung deodorant soap on the plants, hoping the strange scent would throw
them off. A couple years later, not only did the deer come back to the
plants, but they realized the soap itself didn't taste that bad.
Two
things have worked, Ecker said: Placing physical barriers around the
trees, and allowing a limited number of people around the grounds each
year for a bow hunt.
As a whole, Ohio's recreational areas are
dealing with an increased deer population. The population peaked in the
late 2000s. While it has since decreased in many counties, it is still
much higher than the goal population, according to the Ohio Department
of Natural Resources.
Read more in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette.
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