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In order to repel an
animal, you need to do one or more of the following:
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Make the plant
SMELL BAD - The idea, of course, is to add
something to the plant so that, when the animal
comes up to take a bit, it loses its appetite
because of the smell. Most animals that eat our
plants have a powerful sense of smell so it does
not take much.
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Make the plant
TASTE BAD - Some repellants such as those
that rely on pepper (capsicum) extracts will
make the plant taste bad.
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Scare the
Critter - One form of repellant is to use
the urine or other materials from a predator.
Some of these products are sprayed on while
others are put in small containers to be placed
around the garden. Other scare techniques
include water sprinklers or lights or radios
connected to motion detectors. These turn on
when an animal crosses the beam.
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Choose the
RIGHT PLANT - Believe it or not, animals are
selective in what they eat. Sometimes, as with
certain exotic plants, they just have no
experience with a species. Plants such as the
daffodil (Narcissus)
are poisonous and animals have learned to avoid
them. Over time, gardeners and scientists have
developed lists of plants that are or are not
likely to be
eaten by deer.
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Pros and Cons of Repellants
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They ALL WORK
- Yes, all of the commercial or home remedy
repellants or scare tactics, can work. Over many
years of listening to people's opinions, I have
had people swear by or swear at every major (and
many minor) animal repellant.
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The GARDENER
must work too - Why then is there so much
debate over which repellant to use? Well, the
key is that they all work...IF they are
where they should be when the animal visits your
yard.
The one factor that all repellants have in
common is that they eventually wear off
and their effectiveness diminishes. So, if the
gardener is even a bit lax in keeping the
repellent fresh and on the plants, the animals
will begin to feed on them.
The scare tactics work too...but only if they
are moved around the garden periodically.
Squirrels will get used to that plastic owl on
the fence post and soon learn that it will not
bother them. Also, deer will eventually learn
exactly where to walk to stay away from the
motion detecting device. So, these things need
to be rotated around every once in a while to
keep the critters on their toes.
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Remember to only use
commercial repellants on crops for which they are
labeled. Most of them are NOT legal to use on edible
crops such as fruit or vegetables. Read the label
carefully.
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Note: We
have provided some general information and
observations on this topic aimed at the home
gardener. Before you take
any serious action in your landscape, check
with your state's land grant university's
Cooperative
Extension
Service for the most current,
appropriate, localized recommendations. |
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