HOw To FRUIT TREE BARK DAMAGE UPDATE

A couple of weeks back, I blogged HERE about something eating/scratching/chewing on some of our fruit trees.  Well, our recent wet weather was a bit of a blessing, because it allowed me to find THESE:

Deer tracks

These are, I believe from my research anyway, deer tracks.  I didn't have anything to put down for scale but they were smallish, so I'm guessing, just as several of you commented about, that young deer rubbing on the trees, were the culprits.  I have seen some rabbits around too, so it could even be some sort of combination of the two.

Whatever the creature is/was, I came up with this solution.  Hopefully it's a bit better than the strong smelling basil.

Fruit trees with foam pipe protectors

These are the foam pipe protectors used in Winter to cover pipes to keep them from freezing.  Since they're already slit on one side, I just wrapped them around the trunks. They have been keeping them safe for the last week until I can get some chicken wire fencing around them.

Foam pipe protector around tree trunk

I came up with this idea while cleaning out some stuff and found them.  They aren't tight around the tree so they do breathe, but just in case, I decided to Google it.  I found others who have done the same with no problems.
If anyone has any other suggestions, please post below!

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