In the grip of chilly winter storms, home gardeners bit by spring fever envision lush gardens, vibrant landscapes, and thriving orchards. But all too often, such dreams turn to close-cropped nightmares as marauding animals wreck destruction on the inviting green before them. In areas where animals roam freely, this scene can occur year after year. Damage can range from nibbling tomatoes just as they turn red, to chewing unsightly holes into ornamental trees, to extensive breaking up of young fruit trees. How do you stop the damage and financial drain, and give your plants a chance at growth? The answer may well be the use of a garden animal repellent.
One way to cause an animal to avoid a plant or a landscape section is with the use of predator urine. Urine from predators–such as coyotes, foxes, bobcats, or wolves–can keep away their prey animals, such as deer, rabbits, moles, mice, and moose. Since such predators don’t generally proffer up urine samples, however, chemical formulations can replicate substances found in nature.
Another type of garden animal repellent based on chemistry is the use of substances designed to irritate certain species of animals, which then creates a swath of safety as the animal gives the protected area a wide berth.
A garden animal repellent can work because of its taste, or because of its smell. Taste repellents are more effective in the winter months, and odor repellents work better when it warms up. However, the taste repellents only work as a conditioning tool after the animal has sampled the plant, so if you’d like to deter any damage to that particular plant, use either an odor repellent, or an odor/taste repellent.
Other ways to use a garden animal repellent are based on mechanical principles. Gardeners can set up a simplified electrical fencing scheme to keep animals out of a protected area. High-frequency sound devices can also keep away rodents, dogs and cats.
Bring on the green dreams!
