In my lifetime, three native animal species in Mississippi and Louisiana have made a comeback from very few left to a whole bunch of them.

They are Whitetail Deer, American Alligator and Eastern Brown Turkey.

Armadillos and coyotes don’t count because they are not native, merely trespassing Texans.

The resurgence of deer, gators and turkeys resulted from decades of efforts in hunting law adherence plus better understanding and management of wildlife habitat.

Also the three species adapted to our increased encroachment into their stomping grounds with our residences, farms, highways, manmade lakes and so forth. And while I don’t hunt any of the three popular game animals, the turkey is my favorite for one reason: It doesn’t bother anybody or anything.

Turkeys don’t eat up soybean fields, mustard greens or roses. Deer do. And while it is rare, there are instances of human and pets killed by gators.  Actually there are a lot more people killed by deer than by alligators every year. Granted, it is deer-car crashes on highways that account for most loss of human life due to deer, but the grief is just as real as that due to an attacking animal.

Looking back, I witnessed about every possible effort thus far to keep deer away from where they are not wanted.

Deer whistles mounted on vehicles are supposed to scare deer away from the road as a car drives by. And I’ve seen farmers try it all.

Right here in Warren County, one farmer used his crop duster plane to fly a Tabasco byproduct hot sauce onto soybean fields. After a couple of nights, I told him it appeared the only result might be pre-seasoned venison.

I witnessed another nightly tie dogs to trees surrounding crop fields and others hang Irish Spring bath soap from fence posts, sprinkle human hair from Vicksburg barber shops on turn-rows, tune battery-powered boom boxes to the most obnoxious music in the middle of fields and try the fairly pricey propane cannons that sometimes bothered neighbors more than deer.

None proved to be a solution. If there is something that actually keeps deer out of crop fields, it would certainly be news to me.

For folks whose family incomes are not at risk of deer damage but who enjoy their gardens, fruit plants, shrubs and flowers, the choices to keep deer from are three-fold.

There are deer repellants. Honestly, I have no faith in them thus far.

Time, air, sunlight, wind and rain start diluting the odors right away. Plus, I think deer can get used to and tolerate any smell if they want to pass by. Deer-proof fencing does work, but it can be expensive and unsightly.  For ten years now, nary a deer has crossed my seven feet high fence with the garden and fruit trees within. By the way, six feet high works just fine.  And for ornamental planting, download a list of deer-proof plants.

Somehow Nature has informed deer which plant species are toxic to them,“toxic” ranging from deadly to a mild bellyache.
Terry Rector is a spokesman for the Warren County Soil and Conservation District.