[Nepeta]

I'd love to be able to put Bambi in my freezer compartment, but I live in the middle of a large city on a heavily traveled street (bus lines, trucks, much traffic) and my tomatoes are in the front yard because that is where the sun is. The SWAT team would probably show up if I fired a gun, never mind actually killing Bambi. I don't have a dog, and I only know of one dog on the street, a small "yip dog" who lives mostly indoors.

I also have rabbits, squirrels, possum, and raccoons. My neighbors report coyotes, but I have not seen them. The deer are nearly fearless; I have seen them crossing my street at 6 PM during rush hour in bright summer sunlight. One neighbor reports deer climbing steps onto her porch.

[greeneyes]

Does your city have an animal control department?

[Sarajevo]

Deer are relentless and destructive pests. I have shot many on my property when they destroy my plants and trees.
That being said, you can go the passive route and erect a “tent” of deer netting over the plants to deter the varmints. Small sachets of human hair or Irish Spring bar soap is also said to deter them, but I haven’t tried that technique.

[Ladysforest]

Fence is your only solution. We are in the same situation, and we began with a 4 ft fence which the deer laughed at, then hopped over. We extended it to 8 ft. by attaching bamboo poles to the fence posts, then attaching wildlife netting to the bamboo. We finished by “tagging” the netting with orange caution tape (or whatever that stuff is called) flags at the height of 5 1/2 feet and spaced about a yard apart. Before we put the orange tape flags up the deer would crash through the netting.

Our neighbor copied our design. So far this is the first year with no deer in the garden.

The deer in our neighborhood are fearless. They walk right onto our front walk and look into our window while the dog (Doberman) does his “I’m serious” bark. I don’t know if he is more pissed that the deer ignore him or that they are there in the first place. We NEVER let him roam off leash. It would solve some of the deer issues, but it would be the beginning of our legal ones.

[bgill]

Unless the city officials object, you might try hanging some aluminum pie pans or old CD discs. They’ll flutter in the wind and maybe ward off the deer. Not guaranteeing anything but it’s free and worth a try.

We’re in the country so have tons of deer. They love people’s nice soft green lawns to birth their babies and camp out on cool shady porches. No, they’re not afraid of anything.

[bgill]

Also, you could pee around your plants so that you’ve “marked” your territory. Uh, maybe not do your thing in the middle of the city or you will have SWAT at your door but put it in a bottle so none of the neighbors know what you’re sprinkling around.