Bark Stripping
Deer can damage trees when they repeatedly rub their antlers on them. They will also browse young saplings during the growing season and strip bark from trees during harsh winters when other food is unavailable.
Tree & Shrub Stripping
The browsing or feeding on foliage, buds and shoots, can cause unsightly and often fatal damage to small trees and shrubs.
Garden & Lawn Damage
Deer will eat all sorts of vegetation ranging from grass and hay, to flowers, up through fruits and vegetables.
Lawns can be compacted and turf damaged by the deer hooves.
Crop Damage
Deer impact crops by both eating and trampling the young plants.
Environmental and Economic Impact
Why it's vital to manage deer numbers
Currently it is estimated that there are over 2,000,000+ wild deer in the UK. Nationwide over 350,000 are culled each year. Despite this the population of deer is growing due to the lack of natural predators. The growing population is ever on the move searching for food and this is causing problems for land owners in terms of damage to crops, woodlands, plants and fences costing millions of pounds every year.
Some of the issues are not so obvious. A farmer in Sussex had £45,000 of damage caused to his combine harvester by running over deer hiding in the crops. A farmer in East Sussex had over £200,000 worth of crop damage caused by deer bedding down in his fields and simply crushing his crop.
Another serious issue not to be underestimated is the level of collisions between car drivers and deer. In the UK the second biggest killer of deer after disease, is road traffic accidents. Whilst it might seem the easy option to install deer proof fencing around farm crops and sensitive areas, the end result is more deer forced on to roads at night and in the early hours of the morning in order for them to migrate to better food producing areas. The unchecked growth of the herd will cause shortages which make the deer roam wider in search of food. The normally secretive and timid animals will venture out onto roads and into populated areas if the food supply in their range is dwindling.
Our clients are not limited to owners of large areas of land and commercial farmers. Some clients have small paddocks where they keep horses and deer are eating all the food intended for the livestock. Several clients have issues with deer in their back gardens causing damage to planted areas lawns and fencing. Whilst working in small areas is not always possible, it is often managed by contacting the surrounding land owners and forming a group strategy.