Do Deer Eat Vegetables Carrot, Tomatoes, Cabbage, etc

Deer are always hungry creatures. Their diet contains various fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Deer is categorized as herbivores which means, different vegetables are the major portion of the diet of deer.

According to the Oregon State University Extension Office, deer eat more than 500 different types of plants. In this article, I will be telling you about the different vegetables that you grow on your land, and deer love to eat and destroy your beautiful crop.

Do Deer Eat Carrots?

Are you going to feed a deer?…well carrots are the favorite vegetable of deer. As we know, deer are herbivores so they love to feed on various fruits and vegetables. Deer can digest a wide variety of plant and vegetable materials. People fed them peeled baby carrots and cooked them as well.

Carrot is a root vegetable and is found in a few colors, generally orange, purple, red, and yellow. Deer will love to dig the carrot from your garden and eat that. You may love cultivating the carrots, but if your yard is in a deer-dominated area, it is going to be difficult to prevent them from eating your crop. If a group of deer enters your property, it may ruin all of your carrot plants and can eat them.

Deer loves carrots. As it is a nutritious food for them, it contains several vitamins and minerals which provide energy to deer for a long time. A garden full of carrots will attract the deer. Deer loves to feed those plants that are smelly and strong tasting. Carrots are tasty, nutritious, and less smelly, so deer will always eat carrots. They are truly remarkable creatures; deer dig until a carrot comes out, and it eats the carrot along with the leaf and carrot plant.

Do Deer Eat Tomatoes?

I don’t think that you will appreciate it if the deer eat your tomatoes in the yard. When deer are hungry, they will eat almost any foliage they get around. Tomatoes always attract deer to your property. Deer loves to eat tomatoes and new green leaves on the tomato plants. Deer will eat the ripe or squeezed tomatoes as well.

The tomatoes grow on practically all soils from light sandy to heavy clay. It is an easy and simple crop for farmers. In America, there is a bumper production of tomatoes, but there are so many deer. If your tomatoes are not fully grown, that is not a bar for deer, they will eat the green tomatoes without any extra effort.

Deer will eat the tomatoes off the vine. If you are going to grow tomatoes on your property, you have to deter the deer from eating the tomatoes. Deer are one of the most observed animals in North America and people love feeding them. Tomatoes grow a vine and Deer causes damage to the whole plant, from the stems to the leaves, sometimes with the roots.

Keep The Deer Away From Tomatoes

White-tailed deer love to eat tomatoes. Deer will eat your tomatoes if you don’t take precautions.  A hungry deer is not easy to stop eating tomato plants. If a deer is hungry, it can easily jump a 6-foot-tall fence without any hesitation. If you are going to install a fence, I will suggest you keep the fence high.

Another way is installing individual cages made of chicken wire or mesh around each tomato plant. But it may take a lot of time if you have a large number of tomato plants. You can also confuse the deer with the sense of smell. As deer rely on smell to find their food source, you may use human-scented items like old T-shirts, clumps of hair, or old shoes. You can also string up scented soaps around the border of your garden; it will work as a deer repellent.

You may keep a dog and have it urinate around the border of your garden to confuse the deer with the smell. You may mix a few eggs and water and spray the mixture around the garden, which can also be a strong deterrent against most deer.

Do Deer Eat Cucumbers?

Deer are always hungry. They tend to feed almost every kind of vegetable. Cucumber is considered a deer-resistant vegetable. Deer usually avoids eating cucumber.

If your land is in deer populated area, growing cucumbers is a really good idea. Cucumber is a thorny vegetable that deer usually avoid eating. Deer don’t like eating cucumbers but they may eat the plants and leaves.

Do deer eat tomatoes or cucumbers?….well,  If you have tomatoes and cucumbers grown in your garden, they will eat all of your tomatoes without any doubt. Deer really cannot eat cucumber. Deer don’t like eating cucumber vines and leave them the same.

Do Deer Eat Basil?

Basil is an aromatic plant of the mint family. It is also called great basil, a European plant that grows in hedges and scrubs. Like mint, Basil has a strong fragrance and it is a great deer repellent.

Deer cannot eat basil. Instead of fences, sprays, or repellents, you can grow the deer resistance plants in your garden. It is an effective method to halt deer from eating your harvest.

Growing sweet basil is also helpful to resist deer, they don’t eat sweet basil. Deer don’t eat basil plants and leaves. Along with the basil, there is Greek oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme.

These are amazing plants with a strong smell and deer keep their distance from the herb and plants with a strong smell and essential oils. If you are growing basil in your yard along with tomatoes or some other deer-edible vegetable, there is very little possibility that deer will eat your tomato or vegetables.

Do deer eat kale?

Kale is a green leafy vegetable. It is a plant of the cabbage family and these are not deer resistant. Deer will eat the kale you grow in your garden. If you have ornamental kale and cabbage, deer just won’t feed on them.

The vegetables of the cabbage family are not deer-resistant, including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale. These are the vegetables that deer will eat along with the plant.

Do Deer Eat Cabbage?

You may be worried that something is eating the cabbage and the cabbage plants in your garden. Well, it definitely must be deer. Deer loves to eat cabbage. Deer will eat pretty much anything including cabbage.

If you want to confirm then you may check the deer tracks in your property to make sure if it is deer. A hungry deer can easily climb up the fence if it is not on too much height.

Rabbits can also eat the cabbage but deer will eat and ruin the cabbage plants in a large number. Deer are messy eaters and can destroy your garden. They will eat the cabbage and leave the small pieces around the plants.

Proper fencing and the use of deer repellent are suggested. You may also focus on growing deer-resisting plants. If you want to grow cabbage only, then ornamental cabbage is a good idea. Deer avoids eating ornamental cabbage and plants.

Do Deer Eat Potatoes?

Deer are ultimate grazers and they always graze nearly anything they find. Deer generally don’t prefer eating potatoes, but if there is nothing else to feed around, they may eat them. Potato leaves attract the deer but they don’t feed on potato leaves as they are toxic. Some people feed potato chips to deer, they like potato chips but feeding deer is dangerous. Deer avoid eating raw potatoes because they don’t like them.

Using a fence is always the best option to avoid deer entering your property.  Deer-resistant plants will be helpful if you don’t put fencing.  If you have grown tomatoes and potatoes in your garden, the focus of the deer will be on eating the tomato crop.

Do Deer Eat Sweet potatoes?

Sweet potato is a starchy and sweet-tasting root vegetable. For deer, it is like sweet candy. Deer loves to eat sweet potatoes. These are used as deer bait popularly in the USA, especially in North Carolina. Baiting is illegal but many hunters do this.

They attract deer through sweet potatoes and have hunted them down.  If you have a property with grown sweet potatoes, deer will always tend to eat them. They love eating the vine of sweet potatoes as it’s not deer resisting. If you grow sweet potatoes in a deer-dominated area, you have to take measures to protect sweet potato plants from deer.

Deer feed on sweet potato vines, no matter whether they are ornamental or grown for the tubers, and you will have the deer eating them. Deer are destroyers and problematic. They may damage the vines extensively and frequently if you avoid fencing and the use of repellent around the border of your yard or garden.

Do Deer Eat Mushrooms?

Deer have a vast diet because deer need to eat approximately 8 lbs of food in order to maintain a healthy girth. Deer eat mushrooms and wild mushrooms without any permission. They may eat even some which are toxic to humans. There are so many plants and flowers that they eat. There are many species of mushrooms but deer can’t eat all of them. Some of the wild species of mushrooms are also can be fed by deer.

Deer will eat just about anything with nutrition. It is not always possible to get an easy meal and food of the choice. They have to rely on the available plants and vegetables around them. For hunters, the mushroom is a good bait. They attract deer through the mushrooms. Mushrooms are actually preferable food for deer. Morel mushrooms are kind of wild mushrooms and deer and turkeys eat the morel mushrooms often.

Have you fed the deer some vegetables or seen him eating the leaves?…. You must have especially if you are in deer dominant area. Share your encounters and incidents with us in the comment section. Help us with your feedback about the article.