Deer repellant: if you aren't ready for a deer fence...

Make your own deer fence ♦ Deer Fence Repair and Maintenance ♦ Deer repellants
Make your own cheap deer fence gates from PVC pipe

• Dried milk
  
• Coyote urine
  
• Zest deodorant soap hung in the trees
  
• Irish Spring deodorant soap (I tried this but it didn't work)
  
• Pepper spray
  
• Garlic
  
• Lots of odd recipes (see below)

Deer-Away recipe No. 1

Combine in a blender; one whole egg, one cup of milk (skim or regular), a few tablespoons of cooking oil and one tablespoon of liquid soap with one quart of water. Add one teaspoon of hot chili oil if you have it on hand. Spray the homemade deer repellent onto susceptible garden plants every five to seven days.

Deer-Away recipe No. 2

3 raw eggs
3 tbls. of red hot sauce
3 tbls. of garlic juice or minced
Add enough water to a blender to process and mix well. Add this to a gallon of water and spray on plants.

Scare Deer Repellent
1 yard of old sheeting, cotton, or muslin
1/4 cup bloodmeal
1 cup of hair clippings
Cut the fabric into small 4-inch squares. Mix the bloodmeal and hair together and place about a tablespoon onto the center of each square. Bring up the ends and secure with a string or rubber band. Hang these little packets from the branches of the trees and shrubs.

Deer-Away recipe No. 3

4 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup peeled garlic
1 cup clear ammonia
1 cup Murphy's oil soap
1 bar Ivory hand soap (Optional)

Boil the cayenne in the vinegar for one minute and strain through a coffee filter. Puree garlic in 2 cups of water in a blender. Strain that mixture through another coffee filter. Combine the two liquids with the ammonia and oil soap in a 3 gallon garden sprayer. Fill the sprayer to the maximum level with water. Spray on areas you wish to protect. For extra stickiness, float a bar of Ivory soap in the spray and use it over several fillings. Reapply weekly and after rains.

Deer-Away recipe No. 4
(Provided by "Angry gardener")

3 sticks dynamite
100 ft wire
1 car battery

Some of the sprays smell bad to people too. I had a neighbor who used kelp as fertilizer and deer repellant and it made me gag when the wind was blowing from her property towards mine.

All sprays must be reapplied frequently, more than once a week, and whenever it rains.

Worst of all - sometimes the deer figure out they don't mind the sprays, but you won't know it until AFTER you wake up one morning and find your favorite plants eaten to the ground.

Only those of us who have faced this problem can truly appreciate your efforts here and the "ready to kill them with your bare hands" desperate, near insane anger deer damage can bring you to.

Well, I guess that's a little dramatically extreme but these lovely "rats" can be quite the menace.

I have, of course, tried Liquid Fence--never again because of the stench. Also tried Milorganite fertilizer which some local gardeners say keep the deer away--well, it keeps even you away from your gardens--stench!

Irish Spring soap grated or placed here and there had limited effect that quickly diminished.

My own urine, well, maybe didn't collect enough... and urine can burn plants.

The 4-10 works to shag them off for a time, but a garden buffet is so very alluring. One year I used this quite a lot and would see deer approach the edge of our property and break into a dead run to cross it, now that was rewarding!

I have found one pleasant smelling repellant that I really like and the cost is worth it--Deer Stopper. Deer Stopper combines putrified eggs and covers the scent with oils that produce a pleasant minty fragrance that I don't find at all objectionable and it lasts a month, doesn't wash off with watering or the rain and can be used quite sparingly.

Currently, our area is having an additional season for does--now that is the best repellant of all! We just enjoyed venison chops a few nights ago.

Also, we do fence in vegetable gardens, which is effective, however, deer fencing has to be adequately high as they can jump over a 3 foot fence from a stand still.

My sister-in-law puts her dogs' feces among the hostas in a back garden and they are never touched by the deer -- and hostas are a definite favorite of theirs. I'll drop back in the spring and perhaps try some of your recipes.

THANKS, SHELLEY!

A musician friend of mine who is also an engineer and an avid gardener rigged up a motion detector in his garden. When the deer stepped in, a radio turned on, lights turned on , and a sprinkler started up. This scared the deer off for a while but eventually they got used to it and just ate while enjoying the show. Son et lumiere will not save your garden.

You can see the complete results at the Walnut Council website.

First and foremost, deer repellents are very expensive to use and are labor-intensive to apply. The results ... depend on many factors such as time of year applied, weather conditions, application rate, following exact label directions, suggested re-applications, and the total number of trees to be protected.

The product "Tree Guard Deer Repellent" which is yet to be tested in this study ... was purchased for $44.95 per gallon. When examining the active ingredients, it is exactly the same as a product already tested, "Durapel". The price for Durapel, however, was $29.99 per gallon.

... If you have a favorite tree to protect, we have had great success by enclosing the single tree with fence wire, forming a cylinder. This protects trees from deer rubs, but not browsing. ....

Examining the results of this study, taking into consideration cost, time involved, and effectiveness, the old stand-by Dial soap would be recommended. One problem we often heard was that soap does not last long on the tree. Ours is still hanging after two years. All you need to do is drill a hole and hang it with fishing line.

Everyone has his/her favorite stand-by deer repellent. We have been told to use

• human hair bags;
  
• sulphur/egg mixtures;
  
• large cat feces from a zoo, and even
  
• human urine.