Natural Deer Repellent

[milkman636]

I am having deer trouble in the garden this year. We have lived in our current home for 7 years now and this is the first year that I have had them raiding my garden. In trying to figure out why I pieced together two recent changes that may have contributed.

The garden is located in the back yard about 20 yds. behind our garage and is about 50x60 in size. Behind the garden is about 30 yards of lawn that contained a large swing set and a 7x10 wooden playhouse that the kids used almost daily. In the last couple of weeks I've moved both structures closer to the house so they would get better shade and my wife could see them better from the house during the day. This week I lost all new growth on the lower branches on our apple trees, and our green bean plants have been 1/2 decimated. Deer apparently love green beans and the plants they grow on. I really think that not having the kids playing all around the garden for the last couple of weeks has helped the deer feel more comfortable to come up out of the woods at night and feed in our garden.

The interesting thing that has me almost convinced is that I can see that the deer are coming up from the south east corner of the back yard and travelling uphill and around the back of the garden over to the north side to do all their damage. The south side of the garden is closer to the kids play thing and still sees a lot of kid traffic. Fortunately the deer seem to be avoiding the south side or we wouldn't have any green beans at all. If they start hitting my peas too I may have to shoot them, which may cause trouble with johnny law because they are hitting me at night. From the tracks it looks like a doe with two small fawns.

Short of installing fences or moving the stuff back to where it was, what can I do to repel deer from the garden?

 

[yelbike]

Human hair clippings spread at the garden edges. I have never tried it but I have been told. If you do try it let me know. Good luck.

 

[timster2]

Human hair clippings works well but needs to be replaced every few weeks. My good friend is a barber and has customers that take his hair sweepings for deer repellant. One guy hangs them in old pantyhose sections from fence polls that surround his garden. The deer no longer jump the fenced in section and all the plants in the surrounding areas are untouched. He is an organic farmer and doesn't want to use chemicals, it works for him. He has been doing this for years and says it works the best out of everything he has tried.

 

[RalphVa]

An electric fence is about the best way of doing it. I had a 50x75 garden down below, 100 foot drop and about 500+ ft down the hill. Three strands of electric wire with tallest at 4 ft kept them out of the garden for 12 years. You can get all-in-one solar powered chargers for them now. I just used teflon fence posts that you stick in the ground with your foot. TSC has them.

With my heart condition now, I moved to raised beds up behind the house. Have them protected by the same fencing. It keeps out the other varmits, too. I added a 4th wire down low for them.

 

[sawduster98]

I tried these things called Nite-Guard. Nothing more than bright flashing red LED's with a built-in solar charger and a photo sensor to turn on at dusk. I was very skeptical but they were cheaper than any fencing options so I thought I'd try it first. I put 2 of them on the back of my barn pointed toward my orchard and haven't seen any deer since. I guess they're supposed to simulate a predator's eyes. 2 of my friends have also had similar success. The only down side is they have to be moved around occasionally to remain effective. So far so good.

 

[rrrkkk]

We tried Lime, human hair, radio in a bucket, nothing works after a while they get used to it. The same is for Racoons. The only was is electric fence. The groundhogs seemed to get in reguardless, that was several years ago no groundhogs here now, wonder what happened to them?

 

[newbury]

1 strand electric fence with peanut butter.
Just wipe the fence with peanut butter. Stick 2 fingers in the jar grab the wire and wipe it down. Oh turn the fence off first

The deer lick the peanut butter, get shocked, get smart.

 

[Spindifferent]

Electrified or non-elecrtified tall fence. Period.

Anything else will result in eaten vegetation. My orchard still has scars from past failed methods...

 

[hitts427]

I've had good luck with bar soap.I have five younger apple trees that I planted three years ago and one that was planted eight years ago.The deer would strip the trees of their leaves in the spring so no apples.This year I've been saving the remains of my bar soap from the shower and put them in the wife's old nylons then clothes pin them to the trees.I have apples growing on the trees now.Very happy so far.

 

[murphy1244]

If you got a crazy friend that has a pet Tiger like I do get some poop and place along your borders, no Deer, Raccoons or any other animal will be around.

 

[milkman636]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Trying some human hair would be possible. My wife cuts hair for myself and our four boys. I'm not sure we let it grow long enough to get good coverage, but it may be a free start. I think we'll all get a hair cut this weekend. Maybe, I'll shave a bar of soap to help increase coverage.

The teflon post electric fence sounds intriguing and easier than driving posts. Counting my berry plants and apple trees I'll need close to 300' of fence though. That may challenge the budget but I'll do some online shopping to see how much.

The Nite-Guard stuff also merits some shopping.

Does anyone out there know where I can get tiger poop? I think that is my favorite suggestion so far, it made me laugh the most.

 

[sixdogs]

The fences and hair work but we have also had respectable results with Lifebuoy bar soap. Use a potato peeler knife or hang some up. Not as good in damp area where it rains a lot but works very well in areas of limited rainfall. You have to refresh every now and then.

Also, we found that an electric fence with the wire wiped down with a rag that has diesel fuel on it worked well too.

 

[bcp]

Pee Mart

 

[cqaigy2]

If you got a crazy friend that has a pet Tiger like I do get some poop and place along your borders, no Deer, Raccoons or any other animal will be around.

Say, i see a business opportunity here! :cat:<-- supposed to be a cat, closest thing to tiger i could find.

 

[treefarmerguy]

I've been snooping this site for quite some time and this is my first opportunity to post a reply. Regular posters are have provided me with lots of information to use on our tree farm of 65 acres. Thanks.

As for the deer, I have had very good results with Milorganite. It's a fertilizer made from human waste. In the winter it works to keep them away from the forsythia and various ground cover they look for. It has a slight odor that's not offensive to humans but deer don't like it. I get it at Home Depot. Worth the try.

 

[milkman636]

Pee Mart

By rights I reckon this suggestion moves to #1 on the list, while tiger poop drops to #2

Seriously though have you tried their products?

 

[milkman636]

treefarmerguy, welcome to the contributor side of this site. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[CliffordK]

I have heard that some of the zoos sell Lion Manure... it is supposed to be a good deterrent.

In another topic, someone suggested having very good luck with liquid fence, although I haven't tried it myself. I'm thinking about it though... do I want to fork out a few hundred bucks?

An electric fence has been reasonably effective, as long as I don't let it get grounded out, or forget to turn it on. Also, if you have a large area, it doesn't hurt to weave the fence around the inside of the garden area, so if the deer get in, they will quickly hit something and get shocked. My neighbor has been using an electric fence, and some kind of mesh. Perhaps it was a clear mesh which confuses the deer a bit.

 

[whistlepig]

I'm not an expert but from what I have seen of deer using their sense of smell they are awful good at it. For example doe pee won't attract a rutting buck but doe pee from a doe in estrus can. That's pretty finite. I would think that they could smell the difference between the poop and the live animal.

 

[CliffordK]

They probably can tell the difference between manure or urine and a live animal. But, they may be leery of any sign of a local den.

I suppose I would wonder if there would be a difference between native and non-native cats. I.E. Lions & Tigers vs Cougars.