Spring is just a couple of weeks old and the flowers, shrubs and trees are now blooming and more will follow shortly. Spring is also the time for all types of critters and animals, some of which are very destructive to your spring flowers, vegetables, yards and shrubs.

Some of those critters I call pests, and they can do much damage to the nicest yards. The first pests on my list are deer that can mow your flowers, vegetables and shrubs down to the ground in a single night. I like deer in the deep woods but not in my yard destroying my hard work.

My wife and I have battled the deer since moving to our present home on Lake Sinclair some 10 years ago and I am sure others that read this column have had some bad experiences with deer. We tried blood meal, human hair and various commercial products to ward off the deer but nothing worked until we discovered a product called Liquid Fence.

A chemist retired and moved to the countryside in Pennsylvania with his wife and planned to have a nice flower and vegetable garden. The deer had other ideas so the retired chemist set out to develop a product to keep deer out of his yard. He developed a product that worked so well for him that he began to market the product under the name Liquid Fence.

I was a little skeptical of the product at first but I was not a skeptic for long. The product really works and made a great difference in our yard. No longer did my wife and I have to worry that a bed of freshly planted pansies would be eaten overnight or that our daylilies that were ready to bloom would be eaten to the ground.

The stuff is fantastic! It might be a little on the expensive side if you have a lot of things to spray but it is well worth the investment. Several local stores sell the concentrated product including Gary’s Nursery near Reynold’s Plantation and you can also order it on the Internet.

Follow the directions exactly in applying Liquid Fence and you will rid your yard of deer. My advice to you is to immediately shower and change clothes after applying Liquid Fence to your yard. It does smell very strong so try not to get it on your hands and skin. A bath will kill the odor and if the wind is blowing you may want to immediately wash your clothes.

Your yard might smell terrible for one night and then the odor will be gone. However, the deer are able to smell the bad odor from the product on the plants for several weeks. When I spray plants in my yard with Liquid Fence, the deer avoid my yard totally.  

Try to apply Liquid Fence late in the day when there is no wind and do not be surprised if your neighbors ask you about that bad smell coming from your yard.

I am not sure what all the ingredients are in the stuff but it is biodegradable, safe to use and when properly applied will last at least a month between sprayings.

Now that takes care of the deer but there are other pests in the yard. I know some people like to feed squirrels but they can also be destructive to your bird feeders, bird houses, bulbs and even boards on your deck. I trap them and relocate them to the woods as far away as possible from my residence. In one year’s time I trapped and relocated over 150 squirrels. I tried all the squirrel proof remedies and none worked. They are very smart when it comes to food but that also makes them easy to trap.

Other visitors to our yard includes snakes which I catch and relocate to the woods, chipmunks which I also relocate and then, lastly, the beautiful Canada geese which can become a real nuisance to your yard and dock. I do not remember who the bright person was that introduced the Canadian geese to our area.

The geese that were introduced became year round residents and multiplied in great numbers.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) allows landowners to use harassment techniques to ward off the geese.

Harassment can include chemical repellents, Mylar balloons, wire/string barriers and noise makers. None of those are 100 percent effective and complaints have continued from landowners so now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued regulations that allow additional controls to address nuisance goose problems.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has now issued regulations that allow landowners to obtain permits to destroy geese nests and eggs or allow landowners to oil the eggs which keeps the eggs from hatching.

You can obtain a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by going to their Web site at  www.fws.gov/per mits.

Outside Georgia’s migratory bird regulations that govern the legal hunting season, individuals cannot hunt, kill, sell, purchase or possess the Canada geese because they are a protected species under state and federal law. Thank goodness a little harassment is allowed.

I have got to end this article because I just purchased a quart of Liquid Fence today and need to spray the yard. Several deer have begun to visit and prune some of the plants that have begun to sprout new life.

If you have yard pests, I hope this will help you by giving you some ideas on controlling your yard pests.

See you next week.