Deer Diary

Deer Resistant Plants

2010-11-08T14:21:00.000-05:00

A couple of months ago, a local resident was kind enough to drop a book named Creating a Deer & Rabbit Proof Garden: The Definitive Guide to Deer & Rabbit-proof Planting by Peter Derano. The book provides information on wide variety of plants that may yield better results in your home garden. Included are photos, descriptions, care-taking instruction, etc. If you're interested please stop by the City Manager's Office and I'll be happy to look over the book with you (and make copies of specific plants that interest you). It's not to late to get ready for next spring.

A Bit of Housekeeping

2010-06-09T14:40:00.003-04:00

To all readers of this blog:

After a discussion with a concerned citizen, I was informed that the pictures on this site are misleading. All pictures, unless otherwise noted, are NOT property of the City. NONE of the pictures, unless otherwise noted, were taken in the City. Pictures are for illustrative purposes ONLY and are intended to show deer in various habitats.

Now I'm Spotting 'em at My Apartment

2010-06-06T00:13:00.003-04:00

Either I've become more aware and informed on the spotting of deer or they just love to follow me around. As I walked back to my apartment after working out I spotted a single deer playing in the newly mulched flower beds. I may have scared it off with the music emanating from my iPhone; they seem to not be fans of Snoop Dogg. C'est la vie, maybe one day these deer will come around and begin to appreciate rap music.

Decuple Overtime

2010-06-04T15:58:00.001-04:00

May 27th

Tonight we had to retake some sighting distances for: THE CEMETERY. Wow, what an interesting place at night. If you think it is dark and difficult to navigate during the day...try doing it at night. While we were in the Forest Lake Cemetery we drove 1.5 miles of road and spotted 10 unique (different) deer. BTW this is an actual photo from the Forest Lake Cemetery on March 14, 2009.

The 10 deer spotted during this sighting distance operation were NOT counted in the survey.

Day 5: "The Final Countdown...well at least until Fall"

2010-06-04T15:02:00.003-04:00

May 26th

Well what can one write that has not already been written about surveying deer. Our fourth and final count yielded us 16 deer in total. After tonight's excursion, we will continue our efforts in the Fall. Paul and I will focus on high populated areas of the City in an effort to better understand our deers' behavior.

Day 4: "A Blustery No Good Day"

2010-06-04T14:39:00.001-04:00

May 4th

It was an unusually cold and windy night on the mean streets of Grand Haven. We traveled our planned route and were disappointed to see only nine deer out and about. Paul informed me that during wind storms deer will "bed-down" and "stay-put." The sound of the wind removes the deers ability to listen for predators. All-in-all, a boring night.

Out and About

2010-06-03T14:48:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, May 1st, as I leisurely drove around the City I spotted three deer in the middle of the day on Harbor Island.

This is how it went down: I missed the the right turn on Jackson Street to get to GameStop and was forced to use Bridge Street (which goes under US 31) to avoid an extended trip just to turnaround. As I approached Coho Drive I spotted three deer. Huh?

The Day that Should Have Been

2010-06-03T14:39:00.000-04:00

April 29th

After a mix-up with scheduling a truck to continue our deer survey, we were unable to proceed on this night.

Day 3: "Third Time's a Charm"

2010-05-14T11:25:00.000-04:00

April 27th

With finals week upon the students of GVSU, we had a low turnout for this round of spotlighting. One devoted student helped Paul and I brave an especially cold April evening. Just as we were about to begin our normal route we spotted three deer hanging out at Rix Robinson Park on Harbor Island. Unfortunately, we are unable to include these deer into our count because they were spotted before we began our defined trip.

Some interesting highlights of the night included spotting five deer on Lake Avenue just hanging out. Six deer in the cemetery all bedded down wondering why we were driving through shinning light on them. And five that stopped by Finance Director Jim Bonamy’s front yard for a late night snack. Overall we saw 33 deer; 30 we were able to include in our survey.

Day 2: "Let's Do It Again"

2010-05-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

April 21st

We began the night re-driving the same route we had taken the previous night. Contrary to my belief, we preformed an actual count! I had previously been under the impression that we were going to again perform a "dry-run," but Paul liked the route we had taken the night before (it was a good mix of urban and rural areas). With that in mind we went ahead with the beginnings of the survey process. Three students from GVSU came to the City to aid us in our efforts. We saw 21 deer during our excursion in various locations throughout the City. I was able to keep track of where each group of deer was sited and the specific numbers at each spot (I was driving the truck), but I do remember we saw multiple deer at Harbor Island, Highland Park and Forest Lake Cemetery.

During our drive, Paul and I discussed the possibility of starting later in the evening to:

1. Allow the deer to become more active (which will increase the likelihood of spotting them)

2. Encounter less car traffic

While we were on Harbor Drive and Grand Avenue we frequently backed up traffic. Occasionally cars would pull up next to the truck and as the students, "What are you doing? What's going on?"

The Route

2010-04-29T09:54:00.000-04:00

After trial and error we were able to settle on a route. Utilizing the best in both urban and non-urban environments this route will allow us to calculate the viewable area. Here is the formula for calculating visible acres:

(Total yards of visibilites)/(# of 1/10th mile stops)+1 ((number of miles×1760))/4840=Visible Acres

So for example, if we traveled a 7.7 mile track with 4,744 total yards fo visibility the equations would be: (4744/77)+1((7.7x1760))/4840=170.29 acres.

We will be making this trek a minimum of four times this spring, so happy spotting.

Day 1: The "Dry-Run"

2010-04-28T13:56:00.000-04:00

April 20th

Our first drive was comprised of finding “sighting” distances. These distances are the viewable area from the road. Stopping every 1/10th of a mile and using a rangefinder Paul will calculate the viewable area. This aids in expanding the calculation for the City as a whole. The route is comprised of areas both urban and remote to aid us in the generalization of data to the whole city. In speaking with Dr. Paul Keenlance, we discussed that we may conduct an additional “sighting” distance drive in an effort to develop a fixed route (with the possibility of a second fixed route in the future).

The primary mission of this drive was to learn the “sighting” distances and not search for deer, but we did spot 11 deer.

When we saw a group of five on Grand Avenue I asked Paul how may he thought were female, and he said that, “the males have yet to sprout their antlers, but I would think that at least four of them are female.” He continued, “the does have not given birth to their yearly offspring yet, so yearlings will most definitely have one fawn, while does that are older will most likely have two. There is a lot of good vegetation for them to eat.” Paul also reiterated that the fall is the optimum time to conduct these surveys, but he understands our urgency and need for information.

Gardening for Deer

2010-04-27T11:51:00.000-04:00

Spring has sprung in Grand Haven; the tulips and magnolias are in bloom. As our yards begin to come back to life our thumbs begin to turn a little greener as thoughts of fresh flowers and homegrown gardens become a reality. Welcoming the warm weather allows are trees and plants to bloom, but deer living in the city will begin to view our growing landscaping as a plentiful buffet. The deer, which are both majestic and beautiful, are often habitualized in suburban areas. Our best tactics at combating the damage urban deer create on landscaping are repellents and selective planting.

Repellents: Many local vendors sell a variety of manufactured deer repellents, but we suggest also trying:

Fragrant soaps
Dog fur
Mothballs (in a net) *Caution these are poisonous to children and pets*
Hot pepper sauce
Rotten eggs

Selective Planting: According to Master Gardeners there are a host of plants that deer find less delicious during their browsing of our yards. See pages 10 thru 18 for an exhaustive list of plants that are recommended to combat deer damage.

Welcome spring and happy planting!

Photo by Justin W. Moore