{"id":890,"date":"2019-02-03T02:46:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T08:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdfeederhub.com\/?p=890"},"modified":"2025-08-20T06:50:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T11:50:13","slug":"how-to-keep-deer-away-from-bird-feeders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdfeederhub.com\/how-to-keep-deer-away-from-bird-feeders\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Keep Deer Away From Bird Feeders"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Deer. Beautiful and graceful woodland creatures, or backyard menace? It all depends on who you talk to. If deer are frequent visitors to your yard, you may be frustrated trying to keep them from eating all your bird food. Let\u2019s talk about why deer can be so problematic, and how to keep deer away from bird feeders.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The problem with deer<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why are some people so unhappy about seeing deer in their yards? One of the main reasons is they are eating machines. Acorns, fruit, berries, vegetables, grasses, buds, new blooms, flowers, young leaves\u2026they are known to graze and wipe out a wide variety of garden and landscape plants, shrubs and trees – and trample flower beds in the process.<\/p>\r\n

They can also empty out a bird feeder quickly, costing you extra money in bird seed and perhaps even damage to your feeders. All this eating inevitably leads to pooping, which they can also do all over your yard. Nobody wants to go out and pick up deer droppings, or have them in the yard where kids and pets might be playing. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deer can carry parasites such as ticks, fleas and lice. If they spend a lot of time in your yard, they can increase the occurrence of these undesirables which can be harmful to you and your pets. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deer can also do significant damage to your bird feeders<\/a>. They may knock down poles or rip feeders down trying to gain access. They also have strong teeth and may chew through plastic and wire mesh to get into feeders.   <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Now that we know why some people don’t find them to be so charming, how can we keep deer away from our bird feeders?<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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How to keep deer away from bird feeders<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. Offer food deer don’t like<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deer eat a wide variety, but there are still types of birdseed that they may find unappealing. Safflower seed and Nyjer (Thistle) seed taste bitter to most mammals, thus are not particularly appetizing to deer (or squirrels). If there is other food nearby to munch on, they may not bother with these bitter seeds. However, even though these may not be a favorite, if the animals are hungry enough, they likely won’t turn down a free meal.<\/p>\r\n

Also, seeds coated with hot pepper oils will be too spicy for the deer’s taste buds, but will not bother the birds. You can buy birdseed<\/a> and suet<\/a> made specially with hot pepper. This will also deter other pests such as squirrels<\/a>. Birds are not sensitive to the spicy capsaicin molecules, but mammals such as squirrels and deer will find the burning sensation hard to take!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2. Keep feeders out of reach<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deer are tall and can reach quite far with their long necks. They may even hop up on their hind legs. Using a very tall bird feeder pole<\/a> at least 7-8 feet off the ground, can help a lot to keep food out of their reach.<\/p>\r\n

A tall pole that gets really good reviews on Amazon is the Super Tall Decorative Trio Hanger by Erva<\/a>. You can use a step stool or shepherds hook to bring feeders down for refilling.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Use a shepherds hook to hang feeders high up and out of deer’s reach on a tall pole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n

3. Periodically take down your feeders<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you notice deer frequenting your yard and paying special attention to your feeders, try taking them down for a period of time. After awhile the deer will give up if nothing is there to munch on. Once they have stopped coming to your yard, you can put the feeders back out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you haven’t spotted any deer during the day but suspect they may be emptying your feeders, they could be coming at night. Try taking down your feeders at night and put them back out in the morning. Deer are nervous around people and might be more prone to visit your yard and raid the feeders at night when people aren\u2019t around. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Seeds on the ground attract curious deer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n

4. Keep feeder areas clean<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Having a pile of seeds on the ground under your bird feeders is a welcome invitation to grazing deer. It would only be a matter of time before they eat everything off the ground and looked up to get more from the feeders. By keeping seed off the ground, you won\u2019t be drawing attention to your feeders as a potential food source.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

One way to minimize spilt seed and piles of shells is to use de-shelled seeds or “hearts”. Many brands make a no-shell mix (such as the Lyric Fine Tunes No Waste Mix<\/a>). Birds have nothing to discard and toss, leaving much less mess.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can also find many different types of seed catchers designed to sit beneath bird feeders and catch whatever falls. Some like the Seed Buster Seed Tray & Catcher by Brome<\/a> attach to the feeder pole itself. Others like the Songbird Essentials SeedHoop Seed Catcher<\/a> are made to hang below an individual bird feeder.<\/p>\r\n

With any type of seed catcher, I would still suggest making sure the feeder, and therefore the catcher, is up fairly high, or else the seed catcher might just act as a feeding tray to a hungry deer!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

5. Store seed supply securely<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you store your birdseed outside, make sure it is kept in a garage, locked shed, locked box or other secure area that deer will not be able to penetrate. They can sniff out and chew through bags that are left out, or knock over unsecured containers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

6. Have a deer deterring yard<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Still having trouble? Typically a deer will find a bird feeder after it has already been snooping around your yard, sniffing at plants and looking for other food sources. If you can make your yard unattractive to deer in the first place, they may never get close enough to find your feeders.<\/p>\r\n

Unfortunately though, deer are attracted to many of the same things that the birds you like to attract are so this one could prove tricky. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

7. Unpleasant odors<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Deer have very sensitive noses, and there are certain smells that they dislike, or are suspicious of. Here are some smells that have worked for people in keeping deer away. Your mileage may vary on these though as some deer may be bothered by these, while others aren\u2019t. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n