Herbs and Deer

[mjciccarel]

Are there Herbs that will deter Deer from the garden?

MJ

[General Schvantzkoph]

Any guy named Herb who owns a shotgun.

[Wildbilly]

If you mean a group of Herbs, or Toms, or Harrys, and give them plenty of beer, so that they don't wander off, it probably would work. If you mean green vegetative stuff, not so much.

[General Schvantzkoph]

On a serious note try hanging bars of Irish Spring around your garden. I've been doing it for a couple of years but I can't really make a statement about it's efficacy because I don't get that many deer. I got the idea from the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont, they were using it around their gardens.

[mjciccarel]

I can make a statement, it didn't work at all MJ

[General Schvantzkoph]

Have you tried predator urine? I've been using Fox and Coyote urine to keep away groundhogs and raccoons away, it seems to have worked. Once again I can't make a scientific statement but the theory behind predator urine seems a little better then the theory behind Irish Spring.

[mjciccarel]

Is it expensive and how often to you have to put it out? MJ

[General Schvantzkoph]

As I recall I paid $15 or $20 for each bottle (1 Fox and 1 Coyote), they lasted all summer. The stuff I bought was essentially kitty litter that was soaked in urine, it came in shaker bottles. I applied it about once a month. BTW the previous year I tried dumping my cat's litter box in the groundhog holes, it was a huge mistake. Modern scoopable litter turns into a slurry when it gets wet and it never dries, it's essentially quicksand. The muck was still there a year later, I expect it will be there for many years to come. They use the old fashion stuff for the predator urine so that wasn't a problem.

[Frank]

I've used fox urine as a scent mask while hunting deer. It does not deter them. Foxes and in some places coyotes are around deer all the time. Soap and other repellents are also largely ineffective. The only things guaranteed to work are fences and netting.