- RELATED: Deer pest declaration no game
THEY often come in the night, churning up the ground among the trees and ripping off branches.
But these are no hoodlums – they are wild deer, and for Lowes Mount Truffiere owners Col and Sue Roberts, they are becoming a huge problem.
The truffiere, near Oberon on the Central Tablelands, has been a favourite haunt of the fallow deer for about two years, but Mr and Mrs Roberts fear the problem is only getting worse.
Mr Roberts said the trouble began when a bachelor herd of up to six deer began visiting the truffiere, which they accessed through adjoining timber and then jumped the fence.
Their first move was to chew the fresh shoots off the Roberts’ young trees and, in some cases, deforming them.
“We lost an entire year of growth,” Mr Roberts said.
But now the group of males has taken to venturing right through the truffiere, rubbing their antlers on the trees which have been specially inoculated to grow truffles and nurtured by Mr and Mrs Roberts.
Mr Roberts said the male deer rub their antlers on the branches to remove the velvet, but in the process, they are knocking off branches and foliage.
One evergreen oak tree, which has already produced at least half a dozen truffles, has been damaged so badly Mr Roberts said it would likely die.
The sharp hooves of the deer are also causing havoc. Mr and Mrs Roberts are concerned they could be damaging the truffles, which often grow very closely to the surface of the ground.
“It is a high value crop which you don’t want to see damaged,” Mr Roberts said.
Mr Roberts said biosecurity is also an issue, with the possibility the deer are bringing in diseases from other areas.
“Unfortunately we can’t make them go through a foot bath when they come in,” he said.
Mr Roberts said he has put up flashing lights to deter the deer, but it would only keep them at bay for so long.
The truffiere’s security has also helped deter any hunters from illegally hunting the deer on private land.
In the meantime, the approaching rut, or mating season, may cause more headaches at the truffiere.
Mr Roberts said the males could become very aggressive during this time.
“You don’t enter an enclosure with a male during the rut,” he said.
“The numbers are building up. They need to find a solution for it.”