adminIn this article we will discuss deer repellent reviews. Deer live throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and are adapted to a variety of climates, including suburban woods and parks. Damage to landscaping by hungry deer is a concerning problem for gardeners. One has only to search the search the Internet for “deer repellent” to find a wide variety of suggestions and methods to keeping voracious deer from wrecking damage to trees, flowers, and vegetable gardens.
Physical barriers, scare tactics, and spray-on repellents are the three main methods for deterring deer. Reviews on the Internet, along with scientific experiments reveal the most effective deer repellents that homeowners and gardeners can use on their plants.
A thorough search of Internet reviews and scientific case studies finds that the most effective repellents overall are mixtures containing chicken eggs. Eggs are effective because the sulfuric odor emitted by them as they go bad mimics the odor of rotting meat, and alerts the deer that a predator has been eating nearby. The egg smell is undetectable by the human sense of smell shortly after being sprayed on the plants, but because deer possess a much more sensitive sense of smell than humans, they will avoid egg-spattered plants even when the odor is not detectable to us.
Other repellents that mimic predator activity also receive high reviews for their effectiveness. One controversial type of repellent are pellets made from wolf or coyote urine, which can be purchased online or from hunting and gaming stores. While these pellets are reviewed very high for their effectiveness in keeping deer away, reviewers state drawbacks to the pellets. The odor emitted from the pellets once they get wet is extremely strong and disagreeable, enough to keep several reviewers from trying them again. Another concern about the pellets that is mentioned in reviews is the possible inhumane treatment of the predatory animals from which the urine is extracted.
Another product that fools deer into thinking that a predator is nearby is powered blood, or blood meal, a byproduct from meat processing. This repellent can be found in some gardening stores, and is also used as a fertilizer and compost-activator. Although it received relatively few reviews online for repelling deer, a few reviews claim that is it effective, with the main drawbacks being the ick-factor, and lack of availability.
Soap mixtures generally receive lower reviews than egg mixtures for effectiveness, although some gardeners swear by it. Dish soap can be mixed with water and sprayed on plants, or bars and chunks of deodorant soap can be placed strategically throughout a garden.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station surveyed 22 other studies, in addition to conducting their own, and found that egg-based repellents work the best. For commercial repellents they tested, Bobbex was most effective, and Hinder, which is soap-based, while slightly less effective, was also less expensive and easier to use.
In general, reviews agree that solutions placed directly on plants, rather than nearby, are most effective, and all of the methods reviewed above are effective in deterring not only deer, but also rabbits.
