Last night we were oohing and ahhing over the second big pumpkin on the vine.

Our oldest boy claimed the first impressive specimen, so I was happy when it looked like the next one was going to be a decent size for John. We talked of how we were going to carve it and made plans for Halloween.

Then the deer found it. They ate a third of it. I’m ticked.

Protecting Pumpkins from Deer

It’s one thing when the deer prune the fruit trees before we can set up the cages around them, but it’s another when they mess with my son’s pumpkin. I know what I would like to do, but that would probably result in a healthy fine. The second option—hiding out by the garden to scare the devil out of them— could probably land me in the cuckoo bin. (Although our neighbors aren’t surprised by very much of what I do anymore.)

So I’m going to break out the floating row cover and maybe a cage to protect the other big pumpkin, as well as the tomatoes, beans, and peppers in that garden. Everything is finally coming on and looking great, so I don’t want to lose it to the deer.

Early Deer Season

The other part of what I need to do is figure out why they’re coming in so soon. We expect the deer in the fall, but this is earlier than normal.

I want to set up the game camera so I can figure out who it is. I’d like to see if it is a doe and fawn, a buck, or maybe a young one. The one thing we need to keep in mind is it’s been a rough year with very dry conditions, so it increases the deers’ food stress. This means measures that have worked in the past years may need to be fortified to keep the increasingly desperate deer from cleaning out the vegetables.

Problems with Feeding Deer

Which brings me to the issue: feeding deer. A lot of people do it because they feel sorry for them, particularly during a difficult food season. But it causes more harm to the overall population, than it does to save a couple of individuals.

Not only are they more susceptible to predators when they are congregating in a free food zone, they are more prone to disease. As my husband points out (who is a biologist) when the deer are feeding mouth to mouth on a pile of corn it’s not natural. They are browsers who spread out when they’re feeding. When they’re so close to each other they’re like kids in a preschool sharing every virus and bacteria.

This year the deer in our area are being killed by Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD). It’s fairly common in southern parts of the country, but rears its head around here during hot, dry summers.

This year definitely fits that description. It’s transmitted by biting flies. While it isn’t passed directly from deer to deer (as many diseases), when you have a greater population (in a neighborhood, for example) more can die because the flies are in the same area as the larger population of deer.

While I’m still mad about the pumpkin, dying by EHD isn’t very pleasant. I’m just going to have to be more vigilant so they don’t clean me out before the final harvest.