A Little Poop Could Keep Deer From Damaging Forests

Scientists say they’ve found a simple way to protect young trees from hungry deer: make the area smell like a predator.

In forests in southeastern Germany, researchers discovered that spreading lynx and wolf urine and scat around young trees reduced browsing damage by deer. Lynx scent had the strongest effect, according to a release from the British Ecological Society. Camera traps showed that red and roe deer visited predator-scented plots less often and spent less time feeding when they did, compared with control plots marked with cow scent or water.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that fear alone could be a low-effort tool for helping forests recover from heavy deer grazing, a major obstacle to forest regeneration.

“At a time when debates around large carnivore conservation often focus on conflicts, our study highlights the benefits these species bring to landscapes,” said co-author Walter Di Nicol.

Deer in the study area were more familiar with lynx and may be especially wary of them because lynx typically ambush prey at close range, according to Earth.com. Researchers believe the effect could extend to regions where such predators have been absent for generations, since deer appear to retain an inherited wariness of them.

The team cautioned that the experiment used stronger scents than animals would encounter naturally, meaning the real-world impact may be less pronounced. Even so, the findings point to the potential of restoring large carnivores as a natural way to reduce deer overbrowsing—without relying on fences or lethal control methods.

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