Protection from or Deterrants for Deer?

[hunt4570]

The waster treatment plant in Milwaukee WI used to make a fertilizer type product called Millorganite. Been around for years but I never used it.

People swear it keeps deer away because of the human scent. A urban myth?

I cant answer your question but I sold lots of that Millorganite back in the day working at the local True Value.

 

[RalphVa]

I've used a 3 wire electric fence with teflon 4' posts in long runs and 4x4s at corners and ceramic insulators screwed into those for 18 years here. Works fine for keeping hooved rats out (some people call them "deer", no dear to a gardener). Bottom wire is placed at bottom spot on the teflon posts, about 4" up. Middle wire is between bottom and top wire. I use the lightest weight wire, as it's the easiest to work with.

Buy the teflon posts at TSC or Lowes/Home Depot. They have a metal bottom point with a stepping point to allow you to just push them into the ground with one foot.

I use the "15 mile" fence charger powered by a 12v utility battery kept charged with a little 50w solar panel. Battery typically lasts about 3 years. Charger goes for about 6 or 8 years. Solar panel is still good at 18. I just mount a bucket horizontally onto one of the 4x4 posts and slide the battery into the bucket with side holes for the wires, etc.

Every so often, certainly at the beginning, you have to "bait" the electric fence either by smearing peanut butter onto the top wire or by placing strips of Al foil with peanut butter smeared onto it.

I'd also advise getting yourself a kill permit from your game warden and a 410 shotgun with "buck" shot. Take out a few. I'm up to about 35 now. Buzzards will take care of the carcass if you have no outlet for it. We've eliminated their preditors. They're only here for US or the buzzards to eat now. So no other use for them. They're not cute.


Ralph

Update on this. Have had a terrible time keeping the hooved rats out of the raspberry patch in rows until I went with a 2nd electric single wire fence outside about 18 inches from the other 3 wire electric fence. NO, absolutely NO, hooved rats into the raspberries since then, even if the fence charger battery goes dead.

Update. Recently relocated fencing protecting raised beds and raspberry rows. Put this non electrified fence in uphill from it all. No hooved rats eating the daylillies this year. Even planted more hooved rat candy just downhill within the new fence area: two camellias.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

I cant answer your question but I sold lots of that Millorganite back in the day working at the local True Value.

Doesn't work.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

This has kept the deer out of my blueberries.

View attachment 652892


I also hang net bags of dog hair.

Does it work on squirrels? They're my worst blueberry pests.

Ralph

 

[sackrates]

I just started my "orchard last year, inside a 5 ft tall fence. The deer got in there and broke some branches etc. I hung bars of Irish spring from the branches, no other problems for the rest of the winter. They were in the garden last year, I put in some color changing solar lights out there and didn't really have any issues after that.

Mark

 

[CalG]

A dog in an out door kennel works about as well as anything.

 

[jaxs]

Dogs are better than every remedy named here combined. Coons,deer,wild hogs,tresspassers,you name it. We have them all in Tx and grow anything we chose without wildlife damage,and dogs took care of a few 2 legged varmits over the years. It doen't need to be any larger than 20 pounds to chase most things off. Presently I have a 14 pound terrier lap dog that keep's most things away from the house and alerts me in case intruder want's to linger. Three years ago I started hearing coyotes close to the house so I barrowed my son's hound mix dogs for a month. When I heard yotes within 1/2 mile I let hounds out and qued the Terrier something needed chasing. She ran off barking in the direction I indicated and hounds went with her. She turned back as she always does and the hounds ran aways farthar before coming back. Couple nights later I heard yotes again but instead of alerting my little terrier,I put all the dogs in my utility vehicle and drove to where the yotes had been yelping. I alerted the dogs and sure enough the hounds found fresh scent and took off on the trail. The yotes soon lost them so I drove to pick them up where I heard them cold trailing. It was near a week later that a lone yote howled. I alerted the dogs and jumped in the utility machine in hope of leading them to where I fihured he was. They never found a trail but did plenty barking while trying. I haven't heard a yote nearby since. Those were the first since my 50 pound mute dies over 5 years ago.

 

[hunt4570]

Does it work on squirrels? They're my worst blueberry pests.

Ralph

I have too many blueberries to even keep up, I just share with the critters! Birds mostly.

 

[hunt4570]

Dogs are better than every remedy named here combined. Coons,deer,wild hogs,tresspassers,you name it. We have them all in Tx and grow anything we chose without wildlife damage,and dogs took care of a few 2 legged varmits over the years. It doen't need to be any larger than 20 pounds to chase most things off. Presently I have a 14 pound terrier lap dog that keep's most things away from the house and alerts me in case intruder want's to linger. Three years ago I started hearing coyotes close to the house so I barrowed my son's hound mix dogs for a month. When I heard yotes within 1/2 mile I let hounds out and qued the Terrier something needed chasing. She ran off barking in the direction I indicated and hounds went with her. She turned back as she always does and the hounds ran aways farthar before coming back. Couple nights later I heard yotes again but instead of alerting my little terrier,I put all the dogs in my utility vehicle and drove to where the yotes had been yelping. I alerted the dogs and sure enough the hounds found fresh scent and took off on the trail. The yotes soon lost them so I drove to pick them up where I heard them cold trailing. It was near a week later that a lone yote howled. I alerted the dogs and jumped in the utility machine in hope of leading them to where I fihured he was. They never found a trail but did plenty barking while trying. I haven't heard a yote nearby since. Those were the first since my 50 pound mute dies over 5 years ago.

I have had a couple Great Pyrenees over the years.. great for yotes... and anything else that bothers you.

 

[oosik]

When we had a garden and the wife had flowers - it was the @#$% deer. She bought and planted three different plants that were supposed to repel deer.

The problem - deer will nip off, at least, one leaf and try it. No good - they will spit it out. The next deer does the same thing. After a week or so - the deer repellant plants are gone.

Now all the deer in the local vicinity know they don't like those plants AND, sadly, they have been eliminated thru sampling.

 

[hunt4570]

When we had a garden and the wife had flowers - it was the @#$% deer. She bought and planted three different plants that were supposed to repel deer.

The problem - deer will nip off, at least, one leaf and try it. No good - they will spit it out. The next deer does the same thing. After a week or so - the deer repellant plants are gone.

Now all the deer in the local vicinity know they don't like those plants AND, sadly, they have been eliminated thru sampling.

So then you need to eliminate the deer through sampling

 

[PILOON]

I'm remote enough that I can apply liberal doses of human processed liquids without concern. I hung some bits of hair also as a local suggested that method. Put a second solar/motion light down there today.

Don't soap flakes melt in the rain?

Yes but that's why I stapled little plastic 'roofs' to shed rain B4 hanging my scented soap deterrents.
That has worked for 3-4 years for us.
Getting rid of wind chimes also helped as dear being curious were attracted by the tinkling sounds.
The curious deer factor is the reason that hunting is banned wherever there is lumber activity nearby.

Now moose is another problem, LOL we have one that actually would come so close that U could pet it. Warden claimed it must be sick. Every neighbor has stories and photos of our 'tame' moose.
LOL, one senior lady had that moose follow her to her back door when she went for a walk.

A neighbor had a moose that spent the entire winter in his back yard eating all the lower branches on his fir trees. It did a great job of pruning as high as it could reach.

 

[jjeff]

Had deer and other critters eating my sweet corn, grow about an acre or less. I started adding one small cheap bottle of dollar store Cologne or perfume per 35-40 gallons of diluted Sevin I use for worms spray 3-5 times per season, with a cheap garden tractor pull behind sprayer that I modified. it works great cut loss from deer raccoons and other animals by 90%. I know my idea works for sweet corn unsure of other produce. good luck.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I've mentioned it before but I'm told there is a product called Millorganite that is a soil amendment, maybe fertilizer?

In school we toured the Milwaukee waster water treatment plant and there I was told Millorganite is made from people....people's waste.

Folks swear it keeps the deer away?

 

[RalphVa]

Tried milorganite. Didn't work.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Tried milorganite. Didn't work.

i've also heard human hair sprinkled around helps?

 

[KennyG]

After little success with Liquid Fence and other repellents, this year I am using Bobbex and so far, my Hostas and Blueberries haven't been touched. My place seems to be a deer superhighway.

 

[Egon]

.243 works well!

 

[hunt4570]

After little success with Liquid Fence and other repellents, this year I am using Bobbex and so far, my Hostas and Blueberries haven't been touched. My place seems to be a deer superhighway.

I have a fence around my garden area that seems to keep them at bay, its the birds stealing all my berries..

 

[hunt4570]

i've also heard human hair sprinkled around helps?

I've heard dog fur, but it did not work for me.