Soap-based Hinder was the runner-up, with 83 percent protection. Of the 10 commercial deer repellents tested in the Connecticut study, Bobbex (fish meal, hot pepper, putrid eggs, dried blood, wintergreen oil and more) performed best, achieving 93 percent protection compared with the 100 percent protection of a fence. This is the theory behind the use of eggs in all these repellents.” The odor diminishes for humans soon after application, but it lingers for deer, which have a superior sense of smell. “The smell also mimics the scent of urine from a predator who would have likely feasted on another animal. “The sulfurous smell given off by the putrefied egg mimics the smell of rotting meat, giving deer the impression there is a predator in the vicinity,” says Scott Williams, an assistant scientist for the Connecticut Department of Forestry and Horticulture and co-author of the study. Repellents applied more often were more effective than those applied less frequently. No repellent, commercial or homemade, can provide 100 percent protection, but some do work better than others.Īfter surveying 22 earlier studies of deer repellents and then conducting their own controlled study at two different locations, researchers at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station concluded that egg-based repellents worked better than predator urines and blood-based products. Even “deer-resistant” plants are sometimes good eats to a hungry deer. For a gardener, few things are more frustrating than discovering headless stems the very morning you expect to see full blooms. What are the most effective deer repellents? I have a large property and can’t afford to fence the entire area, which includes many ornamental shrubs and perennials.
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