You might expect Christmas tree science would come from labs in Norway, or Finland, or Canada.

This, though, is from North Carolina State University. Scientists there have been looking at the problem of deer eating or otherwise damaging fields of commercial Christmas trees, and discovered a new (less costly) method of doing the job.

This should mean cheaper trees for all of us, so do feel free to quote this research at the gypsy who tries to sell you a pine branch for $25 later this year.

It was news to us, but apparently there’s a thriving Christmas tree-growing industry in North Carolina. And they have a large problem: deer.

Yes, the local deer are attacking the pine growers’ product. They nibble, gnaw and otherwise damage the green bounty by beating against them with their mighty horns.

Current methods for dealing with the problem include fences, commercial deterrents and massive weaponry. All are time consuming and/or expensive.

What the scientists at North Carolina State University have found is that certain food byproducts – including dried blood and egg powder – are just as effective at scaring off the deer as commercial products, but are available at 1/10th the cost.

The researchers, led by Jeff Owen, say that:

When you take the commercial deer repellent that you find at your local hardware store and use it on a farmwide basis, you see growers  budgeting as much for deer repellents as most of their other pesticides. Commercial deer repellents are so costly that Christmas tree growers use them at half-strength to be able to afford using them at all.

So, great news for both farmers and buyers of Christmas trees. Now the hard-handed workers can bring us city softies our trees at a lower cost, by scaring away the deer with blood and egg.

The only downside is that presumably Santa won’t be able to deliver gifts to the Christmas tree workforce, as Rudolph and co will be repulsed by the smells.

We can live with that.