rosebuds nipped neatly off -- not sure it's deer

I have a Bonica rose bush outside the front door of a townhouse in Saanich, and it does well other than losing most of the buds now and then [not a disease, they are just nipped off]. I have had lots of deer around, but my new method of control for them is spraying the shrubs they like with urine, from a spray bottle. So far it has completely prevented their eating hydrangea and other items... I thought they were also getting the rosebuds, but now I am not sure it is deer, as I saw no hoof-prints whatsoever and I believe one would have had to put at least one foot on the ground off the concrete pathway to reach the bush [the bush is quite close to the front door, along a pathway but with enough earth in front of the rose to see any hoof-marks, which I usually see when deer have nibbled]. It could be deer, as I had not sprayed for a few days, and there is not much surface to spray on buds and small rose leaves... but is there a bird which likes rosebuds, or rabbits [but the buds were on stems seemingly too tall for most rabbits]...?

 

Mailman, mailwoman, or children ?

 

None of those, it's a condo complex for the over 50's, and this happens overnight or very early in the morning [when the animals are about] -- and very suburban, i.e. not downtown with many passers-by [except for the deer]. Must be deer.

 

My post here is quite old -- I have since taken out all the lacecap hydrangea which were attracting the deer, they seemed to love the leaves and went for other items while they were at it. Now there are mainly small conifers of various shades and profiles, and various ornamental groundcovers and shrubs which I have discovered they don't bother with -- azaleas and rhodos, heather, and several flowering shrubs including weigela, pearlbush, a nice tall Hypericum variety, a myrtle and a couple of other scented-leaf flowering shrubs as well as Japanese maples -- all of which they just don't seem to touch. I still use the spray above plus meat meal as a general deterrent, as does a neighbour across the street, and the spray and meat meal combination seems to keep them away totally. My Bonica rosebush is in the interior part and flourishes without being bothered, now... I am not sure what you mean by "nice to read that, nice post..." If it means anti- "the spray": well, fairly fresh bagged horse manure is being sold down the road by a local Agricultural Reserve Area farm, dogs are walking by in great numbers urinating, so do deer, small wild mammals, birds, you name it... this spray is used in Europe in some areas my German neighbour tells me... far less harmful a fluid than the former rampant use of lawn weedkiller which used "agent orange". There are other posts on this forum advocating it as a fertilizer, too; it is a natural method using the mammalian built-in avoidance of the territorial -- we don't all depend on the "military industrial complex" to come up with chemical formulas for garden use! And it is used only occasionally, mainly in spring when the leaves and buds are more tempting.

 

Janet, I'm not sure what the poster meant. It's gone now, and apparently didn't add much to the thread.

It's good to know that the combo of urine and meat meal is working well, along with selection of more bristly or scented plants. I'm glad that you were able to keep and enjoy the rose.