As the leaves fall and the temperatures cool, you may notice increased deer activity in your yard or throughout the neighborhood.

I spoke with Matt Breda of Breda Pest Management regarding the different deer seasons here in Metro Atlanta.

Fall “Rut” or Mating Season

“You are going to have what’s called the “rut” or “rutting season” which is in October, that is when they are going to be mating and reproducing,” notes Breda.

According to the University of Georgia, “The desire to breed causes deer to become more active compared to the rest of the year. Bucks move more and become less secretive, making them easier to hunt and more susceptible to being hit by motor vehicles.”

Both the University of Georgia and the Wildlife Resources Division note a “strong correlation between peak deer-vehicle collision timeframes, deer conception dates and the hourly movement rates of deer tracked by GPS.”

“Based on that information, deer-vehicle collision data provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation was used to map the timing of peak deer movement in Georgia,” states the University of Georgia.

According to data compiled by UGA and the Wildlife Resources Division, the following Metro Atlanta counties can expect the peak of the deer “rut” season to impact their commutes to occur during this time frame:

• Cobb County: November 3 - November 9
• Cherokee County: November 10 - November 16
• Coweta County: November 10 - November 16
• DeKalb County: November 3 - November 9
• Fulton County: November 10 - November November 16
• Fayette County: November 10 - November 16
• Gwinnett County: November 10 - November 16
• Hall County: November 10 - November 16
• Henry County: November 3 - November 9
• Rockdale County: November 3 - November 9
• Walton County: November 3 - November 9

Spring Foraging and Feeding Season

“In spring, the young are born, and they are looking to feed. So in the spring, you have the young, the mature mom and dad -- and they are all looking to eat,” states Matt Breda.

“They are a problem -- we’ll go and plant nice annuals and perennials, and they’ll look great, and you wake up two days later... and they’re gone. They’re eating all of them!”

“That’s how quickly deer do it!”

“So the biggest mistake DIYers make is deer repellant. It’s okay -- but it’s only going to last a couple days. Why? Because we have afternoon rain showers, and it’s just going to wash it away.”

“So the best thing you can do as a homeowner is deer netting. I know it’s a little bit of a pain to do -- you planted the pretty flowers, you want to look at them -- but if you really want to keep the deer off, you really have to use the deer netting,” advises Breda.

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