Eulogy for a Pear Tree (Deer, Take III)

Earlier, I mentioned that deer can be a problem, but that there were ways to limit or prevent the damage they do to trees that I have tried that work.  Although it has limitations as trees grow, a circle of welded wire or field fencing--or even chicken wire--seems to be effective.  After complaining to myself about the hassle and expense involved, I eventually decided to give it a try and
have adopted it as the method of choice for every young fruit tree I've planted...except for one.

That one is dead now.

Last spring, I got three pear trees.  I had been thinking about pears for a long time, but had shied away from them because of the plum curculio issues (which also plague apples and peaches, as previous posts had noted).  I didn't really want more high-maintenance trees. Eventually I decided to give them a try.  I have multiple apples and peaches already, so spraying three more trees with Surround won't be all that much extra work.

So I got three trees--two container, one bare root--and planted them.  I got them in the ground very late in the season for Georgia; it was early May.  I ran out of welded wire fencing after circling the two container pear trees, but the next time I was out where I had planted them, I took along a four-foot roll of chicken wire.  I dropped the roll next to the bare-root tree, but "didn't have time" that day to pound in the t-posts and fence it in.  Ditto the next time, and the next... eventually I stopped thinking about it, although every time I mowed, I had to move the chicken wire roll (still laying next to the pear tree) and I'd think, "I need to make time to do that."  In the meantime, I saw no indication whatsoever of deer damage, so was telling myself that maybe pear trees weren't an attractive target.

To some degree that may be true.  What caused the death of my young pear tree was a buck rubbing against it--as the picture shows.  He broke off the entire top of the tree and scraped off most of the bark.  You can see how he pushed it around by the hole worn in the ground at the base.

While it might be possible to salvage this by cutting it just above the graft, I'm going to start over.  I have a few months to decide if I want to add another pear tree or do something else.