Labor Day each year marks the time when we frequently start seeing deer traveling through the golf course. Although we enjoy having these beautiful animals around, and providing a green space corridor for them to travel, we do experience some challenges. The hoofs of deer can cause temporary indentations on our greens as they travel from one end of the course to another. More importantly, during the fall male deer rub the velvet off their new antlers on the trunks of new and soft bark trees. This action by the deer marks their territory as well as simulates a "mock" battle with the tree trunk strengthening the buck's shoulders and neck muscles for future battles. In the early spring the deer also will use the tree trunks to help shed their antlers. The picture on the left shows the typical damage that antler rub does to the soft bark on a new tree. The picture on the right shows a tree guard in place for protection.
We have installed protection on our young trees throughout the golf course. Using 4" drainage pipe for our smaller caliber tree trunks and an "Incamat" fabric to protect our larger caliber susceptible trees, we have been successful in deterring the deer over the last few year's. These guards will remain on the trees until spring.
