Deer, Vermin, and Critters -- Repellents

Compiled by Sue Kaul, Wisconsin Regional Lily Society

Eau Claire, Wisconsin

• Lily hybridizers Hugh and Ruth Cocker of Rochester, Minnesota have experimented with several techniques for humanely warding off deer from their garden. Ruth writes about their success using human hair and soap: I usually collect hair in October and save it for the next year. However, hair need not be new; some of the hair I use is ten years old. I make bags from support panty hose—four bags out of each leg and three out of the top. Bags also are made from men’s worn out socks; I get two bags from each sock. Use an inch square of soap (doesn’t have to be uniform) about ¼ inch thick. Place the hair in bags and soap in others. Tie bags about 18 to 24 inches high on stakes and set about 8 feet apart. Source: Michigan Regional Lily Society Newsletter

• Using a spray bottle, squirt 100 percent coyote urine (available at some country feed stores) around the perimeter of your property, The brand name of this foul smelling substance is DG-100 and is available through Johnson and Co. Wilderness Products, P.O. Box 2009, Bangor Maine 04402. A sniff of the stuff is very convincing! This product is used to create the illusion that coyotes are present, (this is the predator/hunted food-chain relationship) but it can also serve as a coyote lure, attracting coyotes to their mates. Source: The Daylily Journal, Vol., 50 , No 1, Spring ‘95, page 77

Mueller’s Nursery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin also carries pint-sized containers of coyote urine for $13 approximately. (Writer’s comment: I used coyote urine successfully! In 1996 when neighbors stopped feeding the deer too early in the springtime, lilies were emerging, and there wasn’t enough forage to supply the deer and they discovered our lilies! “NOT ON MY LILIIES!” I contacted a professional trapper, and he supplied me with coyote urine, which really did the trick.)

• The beautiful Jacob’s garden of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, which is located right in the middle of forested Wisconsin, maintain the grounds and gorgeous gardens with the help of Chew-Not. This product contains 20 percent Thiram and “cannot wash off.” It also repels rabbits, mice and other rodents. Dolores Eklund, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, highly recommends Chew-Not for gardens also. Her recommendations include purchasing the product in one-quart containers and not the gallon size. The larger size might be a saving on money, but the quart containers are easier to manage for stirring. With the gallons, sedimentation (looks like heavy compacted clay and is almost impossible to stir) occurs to the depth of about 5 inches and makes dilution very difficult. She’s had excellent results with the quart size, spraying this on her plants as soon as they emerge. She has had better luck spraying on with a large Windex bottle. She does not use a regular garden sprayer. (Clogs up sprayer). Contact Mellinger’s 2310 West South Range Road, North Lima, Ohio, or call 1 800 321 7444.

• The University of Chicago tested many kinds of soap to keep critters away from their plantings. The only effective one is Irish Spring manufactured by Colgate Company. The best method was to cut the soap into one-inch cubes. Using masking tape, wrap the soap and tie on a stake, four feet above ground and eight feet apart.

• “To keep pesky varmints out of the lawn, flowers and vegetables, just mix up a batch of my NEW ALL PURPOSE PEST PREVENTION POTION: 1 C ammonia, ½ C dish soap, ¼ C castor oil, and ½ C human urine (the secret ingredient) in your 20 gallon hose-end sprayer. Spray around the edges of the lawn and garden, and you’ll see critters scurry away with their tails between their legs; the pests can’t stand the smell, but you’ll love the results. This potion packs one heck of a powerful wallop (detracting pests).” Source: Jerry Baker’s On The Garden Line, Spring 1998

• Try mixing 1 egg well beaten to 1 quart of water. Said to repel rabbits because they dislike protein.”

• One may have to use chicken wire fencing around individual lily clumps, leaving on year around, or electric fencing around larger lily beds

Light Reading: DEER PROOFING YOUR YARD AND GARDEN (Story Publishing $12.95) tells why deer deterrents work and don’t work, how to confuse deer, and how to design a landscape deer do not like

*Writers Note: Something to think about. Expect to make choices between gardening and feeding wildlife; expect animal problems to become a greater troublesome challenge for gardeners if we continue to feed and treat these wild species as our pets in the future. Please, don’t feed these animals—especially the deer. sk

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