Deer are frequent visitors to many gardens, and understanding their dietary preferences is a common concern for homeowners and plant enthusiasts. Their varied diet often leads to questions about what specific plants they consume, particularly less common elements of a landscape. A frequent inquiry revolves around whether moss, a ubiquitous ground cover, forms part of their regular foraging habits. This article explores deer eating behaviors to clarify their relationship with moss in garden settings.
Do Deer Consume Moss?
Deer do not consume moss as a preferred or significant part of their diet. While adaptable foragers, true mosses are not a target for browsing. Lichens, sometimes called “deer moss” or “reindeer moss,” are eaten by some deer species like reindeer in their native habitats, providing some carbohydrates. These are distinct from the mosses commonly found forming green mats in gardens.
Understanding Deer Dietary Habits
Deer are herbivores, primarily consuming browse (leafy parts, twigs, and buds of woody plants) and forbs (herbaceous broad-leaved plants). Their diet also includes fruits, nuts, and agricultural crops, which provide essential energy and nutrients. Deer are “concentrate selectors,” favoring low-fiber, high-protein, easily digestible foods.
Foraging choices are influenced by seasonal availability and metabolic needs. In spring and summer, they seek fresh, nutrient-rich vegetation, including young leaves and tender shoots. As seasons change, their diet shifts to ripening fruits and nuts in the fall, helping them build fat reserves for winter.
Factors Influencing Deer Foraging on Moss
Deer avoid moss as a food source due to its low nutritional value, lacking the calories, protein, and essential nutrients deer require. Its fibrous texture and lack of succulent foliage also make it less palatable than other available plants.
Deer only resort to eating moss when preferred food sources become extremely scarce, such as during harsh winter conditions with deep snow cover or prolonged droughts. In such dire circumstances, a starving deer might consume almost any vegetation, even if it offers minimal sustenance.
Implications for Your Landscape
For gardeners, moss is unlikely to be a target for deer browsing in your landscape. Deer-resistant landscaping strategies focus on protecting other types of plants, such as ornamental shrubs, flowers, and vegetable garden crops. If you observe disturbance to moss in your garden, it is improbable that deer are the cause.
Disturbed moss is more often an indication of other factors at play. These can include physical disruption from foot traffic, the activity of small animals like squirrels or birds searching for insects, or underlying environmental conditions. Moss thrives in specific conditions such as excessive shade, poor drainage, compacted soil, or low soil fertility, so its presence or disturbance might signal these garden issues.