Deer are pounding the grape leaves

[Tap]

I'll admit it, I hate grape vines. They smother pretty much everything that they climb. They'll kill those valuable mast trees that we plant and they make hinge cutting and tree felling difficult and dangerous.
But in the last 2 days, I pulled down some large tangles of vines that were starting to annoy me. I didn't cut them because I didn't have a saw with me, so I just pulled them down.
The following day(s), I went back to check it out and not one grape leaf that deer could get to remained. I mean they ate a ton of leaves overnight.
I wish I would have taken some before and after pics. But not to worry, I have an overwhelming amount of other vines to pull down. I'll get some pics posted in the next few days.
So, if you have vines covering trees and shrubs and you need to remove them, now is a good time to pull them down. IMO, anytime is a good time to release trees from vines, but if you do it now, you can put some highly desirable food within the deer's reach.
BTW, it's almost time to cut Tree of Heaven. They love to eat those leaves in late summer, too.

 

[Mahindra3016]

The same thing happened to me last year, fox grape vines took down a dead tree and like you said, devoured overnight!

 

[Tap]

The same thing happened to me last year, fox grape vines took down a dead tree and like you said, devoured overnight!

Plots are mostly between seasons right now. Clover is taking a break, and the fall stuff hasn't been planted yet.
But mother nature has some great browse right now that's unfortunately, out of the reach of deer. We can provide it for them with a little effort.
I like to keep deer satisfied on my place. I don't want them to have a reason to leave.

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[George]

I could never cut and poison grapes but I did pull a few out of trees that I preferred that they weren't in. Kind of like tipping over extra mulberries this time of year.

G

 

[THE LLC]

I hate grape vines, too. Or, here it's muscadines.

 

[David]

I hate grape vines, too. Or, here it's muscadines.

Question regarding grapes and muscadines.....

Are these two distinct things? Growing up I thought muscadines were wild grapes. What is available online is also quite confusing. Funny thing is my field guides don't completely answer the question either.

I love collecting and eating muscadines.

Are these wild grapes? Soon they will turn nearly black. They are never bigger than a pea.

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[THE LLC]

I'd say those are grapes of some kind. Muscadines don't grow in bunches like that.

 

[Tap]

Here's a few pics of mine. 1st pic is just one of many smothering canopies of grape tangles on my place.
2nd pic is after I pulled that tangle down (as best as I could). If you zoom in, you can see how the grape cluster forms.
3rd pic is the next morning after moderate browsing. I really did expect heavier browsing by morning, but they were in it again the following evening (I was watching from my home). I didn't have a chance to get more pics.

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[THE LLC]

They do seem to be enjoying them.

 

[SURGICAL GRADE]

I've never seen deer eat them here

 

[THE LLC]

Me neither, but never really paid attention. I will next time I'm over at the farm.

 

[David]

Tap....that is amazing.

Deer are strange creatures. As much as we want to catagorize them and tell them what they are supposed to do, they will still surprise us.