deer eat Arisaema?

[Marge Talt]

Ellen,

I'd never thought of that, but I do believe you may have hit on it!
Leather mouth lining would explain a lot. :-)

Anyway, my resident herd has not gone after the many patches of A.
triphyllum in my woods, but you're also correct in that they can change
diets in a heartbeat.

Someone on another list sent me the URL to Nortech, the company that makes
Tree Guard.....I had asked if anyone knew where to get a product called
This 1 Works....Tree Guard seems to be about the same.  Here's the URL:

http://www.nortechforest.com/Product.html

Has anyone had any experience with this product or the This 1 Works?
Sounds almost too good to be true.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt at clark.net
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----------
> From: Ellen Hornig <hornig at OSWEGO.EDU>
> Date: Monday, January 26, 1998 9:35 PM
>
> Judging from what I saw in the woods last spring, the local deer have a
> great fondness for A. triphyllum.  Huge numbers had been yanked out and
> the tops eaten (deer are yankers, not tidy grazers) - I can't remember to
> what extent tubers were eaten, or left lying about, but there were
> widespread signs of something having fed on this specific plant, and I
> can't imagine what else would have done it.
>
> Fortunately, the deer tend to stay on the other side of the ravine, and
> out of my garden, during the growing season (not always in winter, I'm
> afraid) so they haven't bothered the ones in my garden.
>
> One of the odd things about deer is that different herds show different
> preferences ("my" deer refuse to eat large-leaved rhododendron; not the
> case for a herd on the other side of town, which, unfortunately, lives in
> and around the nursery of a friend who specializes in - you guessed it -
> rhododendrons); and these preferences can change over time.  For many
> years, my deer never touched Ilex (`Blue Boy' and similar); two years ago
> we had a terrible winter, they were starving, they'd eat anything, and
> they absolutely demolished the Ilex; last year wasn't so bad, but guess
> what they came back, right up to the house, to feast upon?
>
> So - it wouldn't surprise me if they'd eat arisaemas as well.  I think
> their mouths are lined with leather....
>
> Ellen