I Bought a New Book

[OldGuy43]

Sorry, double post.

 

[OldGuy43]

Any cool suggestions for deer--other than bullets?

According to my book the Cooperative Extension Service of Orange County, New York recommends bags of human hair for the purpose. Beauty parlors and barber shops would be good sources.

Another suggestion, (my own) would be a radio on a timer playing a talk radio station.

Another possibility, although I don't recommend this one if you have nearby neighbors or are a light sleeper might be a propane cannon. If you're interested just Google "propane cannon".

 

[Nyboy]

In NYC they sell mint scented garbage bags to keep rats away. Rats are supose to hate the mint smell, claim it works for raccoons.

 

[897tgigvib]

Never heard of a propane cannon but reminded me of a guy in Montana who made potato cannons powered by hair spray. BOOM, hundred yards and over the old freight station.

I'm thinking since we have mountain lions and the mighty hunters always say deer are smart, maybe the deer are smart enough to stay away from cat pee pee, especially partially fermented boy cat pee pee absorbed onto clay kitty litter. (pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuweee!)

And, hopefully the gophers would be offended too.

Digit, these are the actual real deal pocket gophers, gopher type gopher, not those so called gophers they have in Montana that are actually squirrels that live underground. Oh, there are brown squirrels all around the area, but not in the denser parts of the forest. Those hang out in the more grassy oak parts where it is more open. The Grey Squirrels don't bother my garden at all. In fact I have a couple juvenile (teenager aged, half grown) grey squirrels whose territory seems to surround the area of my cabin. They almost act like they want to be my pets. I think of them as my silly kid neighbors. So far both of them seem to be the smart kind that the Eagles can't get.

A friend down at Clear Lake says they have the rare bigger Pocket Gopher there. There are something like 12 species of pocket gopher. These here at Pillsbury are the common ones, well, except these seem to be some kind of gourmet cuisine preferring kind. If they get in and nibble a green tomato they will wait a few days for it to ripen then eat it all.

Pretty much had them out last year but i see holes in the garden made this winter.

wonder if mint along with fermented boy cat pee, and add some ammonia.

About trying ammonia as fertilizer. I'd be careful. Can just picture it burning the plants' roots.

What old guy says, I'd first try that diluted waaaaaaaaaay down on some plants that are extra or not essential, and then work the dilution down. My instincts say that sounds potent.

This is a really great topic!!!

 

[thistlebloom]

Any cool suggestions for deer--other than bullets?

What I have found with deer in my clients neighborhoods, is that you have to constantly change things up on them.

I rely primarily on commercial deer repellents, ( and they work on the moose in my yard when I remember to spray my trees in the fall) but you have to keep them off balance and uncomfortable. Like Ridge said, animals are adaptable.

The scarecrow impulse sprinklers work, but you need to relocate them constantly or the deer figure out what the range is and walk just outside it.

Honestly, I hear about Irish Spring soap, human hair, male urine etc. all the time, and they are the ones most often cited, but I think the fail rate on those is really high, really fast.

The truth is , once they have found a food source it's practically impossible to dissuade them from coming back.

I think Monty shared his technique here, electric fence with peanut butter smeared on foil and rabbit pellets pressed into the pb as bait. You have to get them to touch the fence with their nose to imprint the bad association with that wire.

I think for enclosing a small orchard or manageable area like a regular garden that would be the most effective.

 

[hoodat]

I doubt amonia will last long. Too many soil micro organisma find it tasty. I get amonia build up in my rabbit manure when I let it get too much urine in it. I spread it on the ground and in just a few hours the amonia smell is gone.

 

[897tgigvib]

Thistle's plan for repelling sounds like the best most professional way. Multipronged, and assertive with the electric fence right on the Deer's nose.

Now if there could just be an effective way against gophers. Multipronged so far sounds best. This, that, and the other, continually changing.


edited to fix a typo...repwlling?

 

[MontyJ]

Yep, several thousand volt on the nose or tongue. It's the one thing I have found that they don't readily adapt too.