Japanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer Forage

Japanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer Forage

Deer Food: Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Class: browse; highly preferred by deer

Description: An introduced (from Asia) woody, twining or trailing evergreen vine occurring on moist soil of bottomlands and uplands along streams, fence rows and timber edges. Japanese honeysuckle is often introduced into “wild” areas because it is used as an ornamental around dwellings. It has showy and fragrant flowers in addition to evergreen foliage.

Fruit, flowers, leaves and stems are used by many birds, mammals and insects. Deer love honeysuckled leaves and the fresh-growth of stems. Honeysuckle is a high quality forage with protein contents ranging from 9 to 20 percent and a digestibility of 75 percent. Protein content is dependent upon season and soil fertility with the highest levels reported during the cooler months of the year — when deer need food.

Japanese honeysuckle Photos:

Japanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer ForageJapanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer Forage

6 thoughts on “Japanese Honeysuckle is Great Deer Forage”

  1. DO NOT GO BUY THIS PLANT WITHOUT MONITORING IT VERY CLOSELY!!! You might not realize what you’re getting yourself into, but this plant grows in mostly sun and I have witnessed it STRANGLING saplings and coating entire pastures and destroying every blackberry bush in it. This stuff canNOT be stopped once it starts. If you plant it the seeds will be spread and this stuff could easily – and does – pose a serious ecological threat.

    It can grow about thirty feet a year. Even if you think you can control it, I would not suggest getting it if you don’t already have it. I would love to encourage my local deer to eat the devil plant, But it is just so thick I don’t think they can even walk through it. In my pasture it is probably over a foot tall and at least spreads fifty square feet, undoubtably more. If you have ever been to Florida, think Kudzu and you get the idea.
    It may be great for deer and smell good, but this stuff is a seriously aggressive plant.

  2. I echo Shed Hunter’s sentiments. Japanese honeysuckle is highly invasive and should not be planted. The government already spends loads of our tax dollars trying to eradicate it; we shouldn’t encourage them to spend anymore than they already do.

  3. Japanese honeysuckle is an incredibly invasive and destructive plant. Buying, selling, propagating, or transporting it is illegal in many states. Once it’s established it cannot be stopped from spreading. Don’t contribute to the destruction of our environment by planting this demon species.

  4. Justin, this plant is very invasive and can overtake native vegetation in many cases. That said, whitetail do readily consume it and can help maintain it to some extent. I do not advocate planting Japanese honeysuckle on properties where it is not already found because it is illegal to do so in a number of states. The point here is that honeysuckle is a heavily used browse plant by white-tailed deer. In areas where honeysuckle is found it needs to be either considered as a component of the resources for management or completely eradicated. It a lot of cases it’s trying to make lemonade out of a lemon, but again, I don’t recommend planting lemons.

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