Marigolds- Miracle Or Myth?

I had a few marigolds left over from our Mother's Day projects at Family Nite at church. I heard a rumor that marigolds would keep the deer out of your garden. So I decided to plant them in one of my new beds and see what happens.

The deer around here are pretty bold, seeing how they know we can't fire a gun in the city limits, and are not afraid of doing just about anything for a free tasty meal. They'll even walk up to your wheelbarrow to eat the rose clippings out of it, while you are pusing it!!! Somehow I find it hard to believe that a few little yellow flowers will be intimidating enough (despite their rather pungent odor) to deter these guys from using my future garden patch as a veritable smorgasboard this summer. If my once flourshing strawberries are any indication. They are now merely a fleeting memory of what could have been strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, strawberry jam...

So, if I wake up in the morning to find thirteen stubby little green stems in my garden bed I will assume it was nothing more than a rural myth.