Testing deer repellents: A prospective trial

If anyone believes his method is effective, let me know and I will try it and document it with my game cam. Here is the result for bag of mothballs--("Let me try that tasty apple!")

I'll definitely be interested the results of your scientific research.
I haven't figured out anything that works...

Maybe I will try blood meal next. And dog hair after that, If I can mooch from a pooch--I am dogless myself. And on a budget, so I don't want to go wild buying stuff. However, if a manufacturer of a product is reading this, contact me and I will give it a try. If it works, I will put in a good word for you!

Wow, great idea! Can you beleive that guy is nosing right up to mothballs?? I can't! You might really 'myth-bust' a lot of supposed repellants

Yeah! The mothbolls haven't helped at all; deer still shred my trees. I have left the mothballs up hoping they will repel japanese beetles but this week I will go out and buy some bloodmeal since I haven't found a willing dog to shave.

An article in our local paper a few weeks ago suggested that deer do not like human hair..clean out the hair brush, visit the beauty and barber shops and put on and around the plants that deer like to eat. I have not tried it yet but will soon.

There is a product that is blood based, you mix it with water and spray it on the leaves. It stays on for a month or more depending on rainfall. The deer do not like it at all. My friend uses it on a hedge they used to be merciless on. The concept of using pig blood is unappealing to me, but it does work.

I use large gage wire around things, they dislke the notion of getting tangled in it. Could you tie chicken wire as a flange around the trunks maybe... like a lampshade reversed is what I mean.

Maybe so...
I did try blood meal but it is fairly expensive because the rain washes it away--never heard of a spray-on. I have wrapped clear fishing line around for a startle effect--the chicken wire might protect the trunks but I don't know if it would keep them out of the branches. I will think about this.

Perhaps off topic a bit but I solved my problem with the deer coming every evening to munch on my apple trees. An electronic scarecrow. Has a 9v. bty. in it and a motion detector. Hooks up to a garden hose. Anything comes within it's range and it sprays them. The noise is also effective. As a test I even turned off the water after 1 week and the deer walk around the area if they see the scarecrow. I moved it to my backyard to keep the cats from sitting under the bird feeders. They quickly learned exactly what area is what and walked around the area it covers = effective. Aimed low so as to not spray the feeders. Of course, I did get the FedEX guy once and the UPS guy as well - forgot to turn the scarecrow off during the day when I was home.

You could just go to a dog groomer and offer to take some of the excess hair away.

I have a scarecrow that seems to work in my garden, but then I let the deer have all the apples they want. My scarecrow has a recognizable face and its arms and legs flutter in the wind. It started out its life as a fall harvest and Halloween decoration.

Bolino, that scarecrow looks mighty friendly.
I'd like to see the electric one in action--I have considered electric fencing and may have to go that route but it is a big chore.

The Electronic scarecrow works great for a smaller area. Lareg area = electric fence. I have one around my garden where I grow popcorn - not for the deer go much as the racoons that can climb over the rabbit fence.

I put an 8' fence around our veggie garden. Nothing gets in. We put 15' of heavy gadge wire circles around all our fruit trees. I also broadcast Milorganite around. They hate that. I also mix up Liquid Fence and spray everything. Need to respray every few weeks. It's made out of putrified eggs and a lot of other smelly gross stuff. Blood meal is good to put around the perimeter of what you want protected. Rabbits won't cross the line but you have to spread it again after every rain which can get expensive. I never had good luck with Irish spring soap or hair. Every deer population has different tastes though. Fencing and Liquid Fence together works best.

Thanks;
I have bought a product with liquid eggs and agree it is yucky! Will see how it goes.

This only works when your location is private, but human urine is a very effective deterrent. You are, in effect, staking out your territory. Sprinkle it around the perimeter of the zone you want to protect. Add more after rain.

Don't think I could "stand" for that!