It's possible that they've 'marked' the area. I don't know much about deer-we're too urban to have them-but we have possums and raccoons and the occasional skunk. The mark territories too.

You might need to check under the house-it might be a small critter that is, well, you know...decomposing.

We had deer in our yard as close as 20' from the house for years until I had deer proof fencing installed and I've never noticed an odor from them. They used to sleep under the coniferous trees in my front yard and grazed on many of my perennials and shrubs.

I'd be inclined to think you had a skunk visit. Don't have skunks here so can't advise.

Just like horses have their own smell, it would make sense that deer would too. We have a local Christmas event for kids and they sometimes have a reindeer or two in a pen ... they most certainly have their own smell and it is quite strong.

Are you in Colorado with close-by neighbors? ;)

I was in a parking lot recently when some shady-looking characters opened their car door and I smelled skunk. I thought it was a weird place to smell skunk, but then I had a flashback to the 1970s and knew what it was.

LOL may-flowers. I will say that thought crossed my mind when I first smelled the odor around my garage. I have teenagers. :)

I also can smell it in the beds around my front porch and in the beds by the street.

I just went under the house. Because of our flood danger we have a large empty area under the house and it's open and clean. I didn't see a thing and I got a very faint whiff off the odor.

I've never seen a skunk or noticed skunk odor before so I don't think it's an actual skunk. But it's definitely skunky.

This post was edited by deee on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 12:58

We have many deer and I've never noticed any smell.

Our deer don't smell, but our skunk do...so do ermine. You may have a night time skunk visitor hanging around. Have you noticed any tearing up of your lawn or landscaping? They will often did at the surface to get at grubs to eat.

To keep deer from eating your hostas, stake out ivory soap bars...they don't like the smell and will leave it alone.

While deer may have a smell up close and personal, I doubt that the smell would hang around when they are gone. We have a lot of deer who like to come close to the house and I have never noticed any smell.

I have deer and have never noticed a smell. We have a 7 pointer we call Prince, after Bambie's Papa. He sleeps at the bottom of my yard next to my garden. No left over smells.

This is the wrong time of year to be smelling anyone's garden bounty unless you live in a year round gardening zone. I'd bet it is a skunk.

Update - We think it's our irrigation well water. We have an automatic sprinkler system and it's always had a unpleasant sulfur smell but it usually dissipates quickly. Apparently the cold weather or a change in the aquifer has ramped the odor up to the next level. I've noticed the issue around other houses in our neighborhood and my Mom said she noticed it by her condo in another part of town.

No stinky animals, just stinky water. Not sure which is worse!

Here is a picture of our deer that my neighbor took a few weeks ago. They were in her front yard. They are very bold and drive my dog insane.

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