Natural Deer Repellent

[Dr_Zinj]

Here is a part of the website that concerns me about using Milorganite in my garden:

Pharmaceuticals

Milorganite, like manures and other organic fertilizers, contains very low but detectable levels of pharmaceuticals and household and personal care products. To ensure consumer safety, Milorganite is actively monitored for a host of compounds that the EPA has ruled as being hazardous. Pharmaceuticals have been passing through humans since their invention, but only recently has analytic science gained the ability to measure chemicals at the extremely low concentrations we see today. When Milorganite is recycled to soil for nutrients, no evidence of harm has been found in earthworms, the primary exposure group. Research on earthworms continues as new classes of therapeutic drugs with distinct modes of action become popular.

When I was a kid I was told that human waste is not a healthy garden fertilizer, even though it does wonders for the grass over the drain field. It may work fine but I'm not ready to eat veggies grown in it.

Milorganite (MILwaukee ORGanic NITrogen) is manufactured at 900⁰-1200⁰F which is going to kill any human pathogen I can think of, and also break down most of your drugs and antibiotics. South Koreans use human waste for fertilizer all the time, although I can't say all of their farmers compost it enough.

 

[bcp]

All four boys and myself got a fresh hair cut today. Our three year old daughter and a neighbor lady also contributed. I spread the trimmings all around the beans, peas, and corn this evening just before dark.

You are doing it from the wrong angle!

You are supposed to shave the DEER, then spread THEIR hair around the garden. They won't be back.



Bruce

 

[oldballs]

As I recall, our Golden Lab stayed out doors all the time and was free to range. In sub-freezing temps, she slept in the garage most of the time. We never had significant varmit problems. I trained her to chase away the critters and only bark at strangers (people). But now I have an eight foot deer netting fence attached to a four foot field fence with two feet of chicken wire fence at the bottom. The corner posts are 6 inch with 6 foot "T" line posts. 1/2 inch pvc, shedule 40 water pipe holds the deer fence up. When freezing rain comes the pvc bends over from the weight, but doesn't break. The deer netting is six years old and holding up fine. Some years I go around and service it with new zip ties. Now, racoons can still get in, but my traps take care of them as it occurs. The main garden is 50 x 100. For whatever reason, deer don't bother my potato and onion patch which is 50 x 30 and not fenced. Good luck with your approach in this frustrating problem. This all was built before I had a Kubota tractor and used walk behind tillers all those years. Now, I would like to make something more convient for tractor manuevers....

 

[milkman636]

Murphy is a good guy!

You are one of the few that have a good reason to be partial to him.:laughing: He would have more fans if he wouldn't kick us in the ***** every time we turned our backs on him.

 

[milkman636]

You are doing it from the wrong angle!

You are supposed to shave the DEER, then spread THEIR hair around the garden. They won't be back.



Bruce

Thanks for setting me straight.:thumbsup: That day may come.

 

[milkman636]

Thanks oldballs. I have that concern about fences, I don't want to overbuild my yard to where it may become obstructive.

A new dog is something I have been considering. My old German Shepherd-like mutt needed to be put down a couple of years ago at 16 years old. It may be time to seriously start looking for a new pup to replace her with. She was a very good dog that will be hard to replace.

 

[forgeblast]

Easy way is to put in some posts and put some fishing line between them. I start low to the ground and work my way up to about 5'. they cant see it and it keeps them away. (for a garden I have fencing and electric fence). I use the fishing line trick for food plots.

 

[Carl_NH]

We use Plantskydd with success on over 1000 hostas and other trees the deer like to feed on, applied once in the spring and again in the fall to the arborvitae the deer like to eat in the winter. I apply it with the Stihl backpack fogger setup, or you can spray with a tank too.

2.2Lbs dry is $50 range and makes 4 gallons of liquid - and I use 2 gallons in the spring and then fall, so $25 a treatment

Plantskydd Deer Rabbit Vole Repellent

Its organic and safe for trees, vegetables and more. If you don't like spraying the entire garden do the perimeter and the lower part of the trees.

 

[FarmGeek]

This is an easy one. To keep deer away use variable sounds and movement as they don't like anything unusual. Kinda like me as I get older....


Amazon (and other retailers) sells a device called a 'Scarecrow water sprinkler'. Clever little invention that marries a pulsing water sprinkler with a motion detector. I use four of them - one at each corner of my garden - and eliminated my Free Deer Food Here stand.

Check it out.

 

[DJ54]

This idea is too late for this year, but something to try next year. I read on a gardening forum last winter, about a guy planting a hedge row of the tall white striper sunflowers around his garden, and had 100% success at keeping the deer out.

I went to TSC, and bought a 5lb. bag of the stripers for birds this spring, and planted around 6 rows, within a 30" width with my David Bradley tractor & planter. I also planted 4-5 rows of the black oilers in the same space to make it thick and lush down low.

The picture with the D-B & planter is the day I planted my sweet corn, and sunflowers. The other pictures are the results. So far, no deer have entered the garden where the sunflowers surround the corn. I put up a double strand of electric fence for the other varmints, and to date not one ear has been touched.

I realize that next year I may have a gazillion volunteers, but as often as I cultivate, it should remedy them. But I will definitely have my hedge fence again next year..!!

I did allow myself an entry way so as to get the tractor in to cultivate, and maintain the weed problem, and harvest.

Also..., right now the Chicadee's are sure enjoying the sunfower seeds..!!

And just had to post a pic of my Silver Queen, standing at 9 & 4/10's' tall..!!

 

[DJ54]

I've also been experimenting with spraying beans & corn foilage, with hot pepper juice. I take 6-8 Jalepeno peppers, and put in a blender, and pretty well puree', then add water, and pulse the blender to mix it up. I get close to 4 cups of hot pepper juice. I then strain the juice and freeze in small gatorade bottles to preserve. I add one cup of the juice to 1-1/2 gallons of water in my hand sprayer + 2 tsp. of dish soap, and that also seems to keep the deer from chewing things up. It also works as a somewhat organic pesticide. It kept the Mexican Bean Beetles off the Roma's I planted, not so well on the silk worms on the corn. For a back-up, I used a spray containing Spinosad, which has been deemed organic.

I planted jalepeno's for next years juice spray, and have them in the freezer, and have been using a few along too. Been working so far..!!

 

[CliffordK]

My deer really like eating the sunflowers. Are you sure you're not putting up deer attractants? Is the idea to encourage the deer to eat the sunflowers instead of the corn? It might work. My deer wouldn't bother the corn much if there is other stuff to eat, but they still like tomatoes and such.

I am going to experiment with castor beans to try to discourage the gophers. Perhaps the deer won't like them either, although I assume they are smart enough to avoid the castor, and eat what they like.

 

[DJ54]

I wondered that too, seeing guys plant sunflowers for the deer, but they have not touched them either. Maybe they prefer my alfalfa to sunflowers, or the neighbors Honeysuckle. But the white stripers get pretty tall, so maybe out of their reach..??

They did eat the tops of my unprotected green beans, and sampled some tops of sweet corn I planted outside the hedge row intentionally, to try the pepper spray. Since applying the pepper spray, they have not eaten any. Not even a hoof print in the loose dirt. Lesson learned, and/or good memory..?? Maybe just the scent of the pepper spray deters them. I do know they uprooted several of the Jalepeno's.

And I have 2 pair of Red Fox denned up close, and took care of a lot of the baby Groundhogs & Racoon's, from the remains I found. Good carnivor..!!

 

[CliffordK]

Should one spray the pepper on the plants or the deer?

Burglar Bomb - Anti Burglary Pepper Spray Systems, Mace and Home Security Products

 

[TomSeller]

Sunflowers are the first thing deer at my place eat. I like to grow sunflowers and the first year I did, the deer did not bother them. The second year one must have taken a liking to them and the rest is history. I have them behind deer-netting and electric fence now. Not nearly as nice to look at.

 

[DJ54]

Should one spray the pepper on the plants or the deer?

Burglar Bomb - Anti Burglary Pepper Spray Systems, Mace and Home Security Products

Both if necessary..., LOL...

 

[DJ54]

Sunflowers are the first thing deer at my place eat. I like to grow sunflowers and the first year I did, the deer did not bother them. The second year one must have taken a liking to them and the rest is history. I have them behind deer-netting and electric fence now. Not nearly as nice to look at.

Maybe they need to acquire a taste for them. I guess I find out next year..!! Or maybe spray the sunflowers with the pepper juice..??

I'm between a 400 acre orchard, and around a 600 acre Metro Park, and they literally had path's through my now hay and pasture fields. Every evening just before dusk, a good sized doe comes out to feed on the neighbor's Honeysuckle thicket, within 100 yds. of my garden.

 

[NS Gearhead]

I've got 18 maples planted along my driveway between 1 and 6' tall. They've had their share of damage from deer. For the passed couple of years I've had tin pie plates hanging from string on redbar posts. This year one fell off it's string on a weekend I was away and four trees got damaged quite badly where it was. So I put it back up. I also heard that they hate Irish Spring soap so I cubed up enough to throw a chunk between the trees. No idea if it'll help, but for the price it was worth trying. I'm looking forward to the day these trees are big enough not to have to worry anymore. A couple grew a good 2' this year! : )

 

[CliffordK]

As far as sunflowers & corn,
last year I mixed them a bit in my garden. They left the corn (at least mature stalks) alone, and ate the sunflowers, even out of the middle of the rows.

Perhaps the idea is to plant the sunflowers as a sacrificial crop.

It doesn't mean they won't also go for tomatoes and other goodies in the garden.

They didn't seem to bother the squash and zucchini. Nor do they seem to like fig trees. They occasionally taste the rhubarb, but don't seem to do much damage to it.

 

[johan stroh]

in Deutschland we grow much Kohl für Sauerkraut und use human Dünger aus fertilizer ist deer nicht longer prosper