The World of Deer

Deer survive by detecting danger before danger detects them, and their three primary senses divide that job cleanly: smell is the long-range lie detector, hearing is the early-warning system, and vision is a wide-angle motion

Rarely — coneflowers are among the most dependable deer-resistant flowers you can plant. Echinacea defends itself three ways at once: rough, hairy foliage deer dislike on the tongue, a faint aromatic bitterness, and that spiky

Rarely — black-eyed Susans are one of the more dependable deer-resistant perennials. The leaves and stems of Rudbeckia are covered in coarse, bristly hairs that deer find unpleasant on the tongue, so in most gardens

Deer stay warm in winter through a remarkable combination of equipment and strategy: a two-layer winter coat whose hollow guard hairs trap insulating air, a dense woolly undercoat, a layer of fat banked during fall

Yes — deer eat corn eagerly, and it may be the crop they damage most. Deer graze corn at every stage: tender seedlings in spring, silks and tassels in midsummer, and above all the sweet,

During the day, most deer are bedded down in thick cover, resting, chewing their cud, and letting their eyes, ears, and nose stand guard while their bodies digest the night’s feeding. Deer are crepuscular, most