Deer Tote Ladders to Reach Fruit

No fence too tall for buck and doe climbers

September 4, 2010

A pair of enterprising deer in Marin County, California, use a tall fruit-picking ladder to reach high-hanging peaches, plums and apples in fenced backyards. The 16-foot ladder, while cumbersome during transport from yard to yard, gives the deer access to nearly any orchard no matter how high.

"I saw the buck nibble a green persimmon way up in the sky," said Myrtle Walker, who lives in a 7,000-square-foot mansion in Belvedere, an exclusive enclave 10 miles north of the Golden Gate. "He seemed aggressive, as if he owned the place."

The deer population has soared in recent years due to lack of predators, according to Bud Stone, director of Critter Control Services. "Nobody tolerates cougars anymore," Stone said. "So deer got nothin' to be scared of. Most people shoo 'em away and they come back in an hour. They're takin' over. That pair with the ladder? They're workin' the better neighborhoods. The buck's got some balls on 'im. Seen 'im perched 15 feet in the air one mornin'. He knocks peaches off branches and she catches 'em in her mouth. Now that's teamwork."

Stephanie Moulton-Peters, mayor of Mill Valley, has proposed a city ordinance to grant protected species status for the marauding deer. "They have sweet faces," she says. "So what if Bambi can climb a ladder? We have enough plums for all creatures to thrive."

—James Dunn
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