What kind of berries do deer eat?

Asked by: Jason Greer

Deer adore fruits and nuts. They love pecans, hickory nuts and beechnuts acorns in addition to acorns. A couple of favorite fruits are apples, blueberries, blackberries and persimmons.

What berries do deer like best?

[7] Berries: Deer actually prefer the leaves, branches, and stems of raspberry and blackberry bushes to the fruit, which is usually gone by hunting season.

What do deer love to eat the most?

Deer will primarily eat browse (woody portion of leaves and stems), forbs (broad-leaved plants), mast (acorns, apples, etc), and grass. Although these are the main foods deer like to eat, the quantity of these different foods differ throughout the year and the region you are hunting.

What fruits deer Cannot eat?

Anything in the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant…etc), and rhubarb are examples of plants deer avoid because of their toxicity.

What is the cheapest thing to feed deer?

An inexpensive way to feed deer is with corn. Deer love corn and many hunters rely on it for supplemental feeding. That being said, corn is not an excellent source of protein, which is essential for antler growth and the nursing of fawns.

What can I feed wild deer in my backyard?

A wide variety of fruits and vegetables – including apples, grapes, cherries, pears, carrots, and snap peas – are eaten in nature by deer. Therefore, it is safe to feed deer these fruits. Acorns are another safe food source.

What can I put in my deer feeder besides corn?

Some good fall food sources include hard mast (e.g., oak acorns, beech nuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, etc.), soft mast (e.g., apples, pears, persimmons, etc.), and agricultural crops (corn, soybeans, brassicas, cereal grains, etc.).

Can deer eat raisins?

Deer Eating Habits



While wild raisins should provide enough nutrition for a deer during the winter, raisins offer high levels of sugars (over 72 percent) with small amounts of fiber, and protein, which can cause an untold number of problems for them.

What foods are toxic to deer?

Deer Resistant Vegetables and Herbs



Certain plants, such as rhubarb, are toxic to deer. Deer usually also avoid root vegetables (which require digging) and prickly vegetables such as cucumbers and squashes with hairy leaves. Cultivars with strong odors such as onions, garlic and fennel are not palatable to deer.

Can I feed deer apples?

Waste apples and potatoes are palatable to deer and contain ample calories, but are not a healthy stand-alone diet. Fruits and spuds are high in water and too low in protein and fiber for wintering deer. If deer cannot access high quality natural forages around your feeder, they will not thrive.

Will deer eat dried peas?

Yep the deer really like once they get used to it. The peas are 22% protein and it gives your feeder something better than your neighbor who is just throwing corn. It will take them a few weeks to get used to it.

Can you feed deer strawberries?

Strawberries are delicious fruits, so deer, widely known for their vast appetite, would gladly devour any strawberry orchard. They will feed on the fruits, leaves, stems, and everything, leaving a severely damaged plant in their wake.

Do deer eat mixed nuts?

Yes, they do. In truth, deer go “nuts” about nuts and will consume the seeds, vines, and leaves of the plant.

Are nuts OK for deer?

Nuts are the most preferred foods for deer. They eat acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts and pecans.

Will deer eat grapes?

Deer eat grapes and grape vines. They can especially be a problem when vines are young and trying to get established and when fruit is ripe. The only sure way to keep deer from entering the vineyard is exclusion using fencing. Electrified, tall fencing is the most effective method.

Do deer like carrots?

After planting carrots they take around 70-80 days to finish growing. Over time, it has become not just an edible food for humans, but deer are also consuming these vegetables. Deer love to eat carrots, which is bad for farmers and can cost them millions of dollars per year.

Will deer eat cranberries?

Deer. Deer may wander onto cranberry bogs and eat foliage or berries. Anecdotal evidence indicates that a deer may eat 2-4 barrels of cranberries over the course of a season. They can also cause damage by trampling vines and fruit or by bedding down on the vines.

Will deer eat blueberries?

They are not just delicious to deer but offer a vast range of nutrition. Blueberries contain many essential vitamins such as vitamin c, which is one reason deer relishes this high-energy fruits. Deer will not only eat the fruits but the twigs, stem, leaves, and other aspects of your blueberry plants.

Do deer eat American cranberry bushes?

Ruffed grouse, pheasants, deer, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, robins, cedar waxwings, and other songbirds all have been known to eat these fruits (USDA NRCS 2019). But because they often persist on the shrub until mid-winter, it’s likely they are not especially palatable to wildlife.

What wildlife eats cranberries?

Theses animals can sometimes eat the cranberry, especially black bear, rodents, birds, and deer. Birds residing on bogs find the cranberry to be a very good food source. Birds like jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, wrens, and warblers all enjoy eating the berries.

Do squirrels eat raw cranberries?

If you want to feed the squirrels over the winter, when fresh food is non-existent, you can toss or place a mix outside of seedless grapes, orange slices, blueberries, cut up banana, peaches and nectarines (the pits are toxic!), dried cranberries or raisins (unsulphured/natural), romaine lettuce, peeled squash & …

Can you feed wild birds dried cranberries?

Yes, birds love eating dried cranberries because of their sweet taste, which is not present in other cranberries. You can serve only dried cranberries to your birds, or you can mix them with other fruits and seed mixes to give a nice sweet taste.