Horsetail/snake grass/puzzle grass

[meyeri]

I have been watching the deer hammer a patch of this stuff in a ditch for a while now. I've picked up sheds in this ditch two years in a row too. Is this stuff only hit because there is little other green browse around?
There are 50+ deer in the adjacent cornfield nightly as well, so there is plenty of good food around. Anybody ever plant this stuff specifically for deer?

 

[goatman]

I always called it joint grass. I'm going to check some out though after you told me about it.

 

[Daver]

I have never planted it but I know where there is a patch of it in a ditch and I see deer in there, right next to the road, every winter. I don't know much about it but they are attracted to it for sure.

 

[sep0667]

I have noticed deer love this stuff in the winter. Horsetail or something like that is what I have heard it called. It's kind of like a reed and they have water in them, usually in ditchs or swampy areas, I would think it would be sort hard to plant.

 

[StickersNKickers]

I know of a ditch with this as well. The deer have a couple crossings thru it, but I'm not sure if they spend much time eating it. I'll have to check it more closely next time I'm by it.

 

[buckfever321]

Scouring Rush is what we always called it at ISU and I would STRONGLY advise against planting it. It's hard to get rid of it once it's there and can spread very aggressively.

 

[arm]

Yikes I googled that stuff. Sounds like that if it's there, you're not going to get rid of it