Yep, picked one off with a pellet rifle in July. Got my ladder out and tied him by his tail to one of the higher branches I could get to. He dried out in a few weeks, and was flapping in the breeze, and not another bushy tailed rat bothered my pairs.
Kind of macabre, but I was getting frustrated.
Good solution.
Interestingly, there was a carcass used for a problem that a nearby town had with turkey vultures about 5 or 6 years ago. The repulsive beasts had taken to roosting in a grove of trees on a small plot of land. People were disgusted with their droppings on the sidewalks, but state law prohibits harming them. Fortunately, some old farmer knew the answer. One of the vultures had apparently been hit by a car on one of the county roads, and he suggested the town hang its carcass in the grove of trees. Problem solved. The birds have not returned to that spot.
I seriously don’t think deer would “get it”, though. But I certainly have no knowledge just a hunch. Betting that one of the many hunters on FR could tell you.
BTW, how come the deer don’t bother your pears?