Protection from or Deterrants for Deer?

[hunt4570]

Spraying Peppermint extract (2 TBS. per gallon of water) has worked well for me. It needs to be applied every 7-10 days, sooner after a good rain. I buy it by the quart from Olive Nation Pure Peppermint Extract - TTB the least expensive place I've found it. They sell it in smaller bottles if you want to try and experiment with it.

I mix it with my organic pesticides so as to spray in tandem saving a trip, up to that point it needs to be done usually after a rain. Deer normally eat beet tops, beans and corn. Since using this they will walk through the garden but not even offer to browse on anything. Seems to work for groundhogs and squirrels too. Rabbits are rare here with all the feral cats people have dropped off from in town. We'll see about Coon this year as this is the first time growing sweet corn in 4-5 years.

I use a 2-gallon pump sprayer to apply, it will cover the entire garden with a little left over. Just mist the plants well, it doesn't need to be dripping off. I usually do it in the early evening, so it has a chance to dry.

And what do you use for organic pesticide? And what bugs does it protect from?

 

[WM75Guy]

Followup 1.5 years later - mice soon ate every bar or chunk of Irish Spring that I put under the house. No deterrent effect at all.

The camera down there shows a critter parade under the house nearly every night. Another camera on the deck, same. Everybody trotting the length of the house then a while later coming back in the opposite direction.

Skunk, raccoons, foxes are the most common, possum and bobcat occasionally. And deer occasionally sampling the houseplants on the deck in the middle of the night, waking us up.

We are starting to have deer come around. I threw out some old bird seed in the front yard, so I could fill the container with fresh seed. The deer seem to like it. The wife just planted some new flowers on the back porch. So far the deer have not found them. Will have to figure something out to protect them.

 

[bdhsfz6]

We are starting to have deer come around. I threw out some old bird seed in the front yard, so I could fill the container with fresh seed. The deer seem to like it. The wife just planted some new flowers on the back porch. So far the deer have not found them. Will have to figure something out to protect them.

View attachment 867396

We've had good luck with these motion sensing sprinkler systems:

Orbit Yard Enforcer Motion Activated Pest Deterrent Sprinkler Decoy 62100Z - The Home Depot

The Orbit Yard Enforcer Motion-activated Sprinkler protects landscapes and gardens from animals and pests. A powerful combination of spray, motion and noise not only acts as a deterrent to scare off animals,

www.homedepot.com

We use one next to the house hose bib to protect our ornamental plantings.

They detect movement out to 50' or so, and do a good job of scaring the critters away. They do double duty to water the plants as well.

 

[kenmbz]

The deer love our sprinklers, nice bath on a hot night.
The motion lights seem to help them see what they are eating.
The deer off seems to work, but does not last long.
Lavender and lemon balm also seem to keep them away, but only maybe 10-20 feet.

The mice did chow down on the soap bar. I use a water bucket trap now, that seems to catch mice in the garage.

Will try the pepermint and see how that works for the deer.
Only thing that seems to work so far is cages, and sides close enough the deer don't think they can jump in.

 

[SpringHollow]

I thought I had posted this before but I do not see it. We had some garden plots as part of an apartment community garden. Deer were eating everything so I put up in the center of my plots a traditional bird feeder filled with dry cow's blood (sold as a fertilizer). The feeder kept the rain off of the dry blood so that it would not turn in to a mess and go bad. Deer would come by, stomp and snort but did not touch my gardens. They did continue to eat everyone else's. The deer were so used to people that I could stand out at the side of the gardens and watch them act this way.

Ken

 

[DJ54]

And what do you use for organic pesticide? And what bugs does it protect from?

Spinosad and BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) Copy and paste either to a search engine as I'm sure both are sold under many name brands. BT is mainly for worm and caterpillars, works great for cabbage. Plus, I plant some Daikon Radishes along side or in between rows the same time I set the cabbage out. Radishes will bolt when cabbage heads start forming. The white butterflies are attracted to the radish bloom and pay hardly any attention to the cabbage.

Spinosad works well on bean beetles, potato bugs and more than several others. Both need to be ingested disrupting their digestive system. Just have to be careful with the Spinosad as it will kill bee's too. I just spray just before dark allowing time for it to dry. After that, you're
good.

 

[jjeff]

Last year discovered dollar store ammonia dispensed in a spray bottle, seems to work pretty good sprayed around exterior and interior perimeter of out buildings. I have several qts on hand in my arsenal of rodent and snake repellent devices. Still mix several ounces of cheap cologne in 40 gal sprayer when I spray sweet corn with insecticide for worms as soon as it starts to silk. I now buy cheap cologne by the QT, at Less than $15.

 

[bobmisi]

A couple of dogs work pretty good. Teach them to chase the deer away and their urine will push deer away,

 

[kenmbz]

The deer just stare at my dog and don't run until she chases.
Her smells don't bother the deer or fox.

 

[Powderdreams]

In past years, I lost most everything to deer or other critters. To the point it really wasn't worth planting anything. I may try again next year now that I have a bunch of new fruit trees and need to try to protect them. Plus, I need to try to produce a food crop for other reasons.

I've heard and read a few things, but I'm asking about experiences in what others have tried. Some say a deer won't jump anything it can't see over. They say to plant taller crops like corn or sunflowers. Others say an electric fence wire about nose high will deter them with another a few inches above ground to deter smaller ground animals. Somebody even said to hang bags of human hair clippings since the deer can smell our scent and will avoid it. I don't know if I buy any of those ideas. Traditional fencing is all but useless for raccoons, squirrels and anything else that can climb.

Before I go spending a couple of hundred dollars on a solar charger, t-posts and wire, what others ideas can TBNers suggest?

I was planning on trying a few rows of corn anyways, so I could try to use that as a perimeter around the fruit trees. I also have to mow around the area and between the trees, so I have to allow for that.


Then there are the chemical deterrents found in stores, but they're not cheap and don't last long.

We drove in some T-posts, strung string between the posts and hung bars of Irish Spring soap between the T-posts. stopped the deer from nibbling off our sweet patato greens.