Critter Repellent That Works!

[David Taylor]

I have hordes of marauding rabbits stampeding across my back yard, the coyotes unable to make a dent in their numbers, and yet, for the first time in a long time, I've got lettuce growing without an electric fence, traps and snared around it, getting my plot nicknamed the Gulag Garden. What's my secret? Don't gross out on me, but I've been sprinkling my urine around the garden, and except for an occasional rogue gopher, nothing seems to be willing to cross the line.

I got the idea from an old Green Beret I went camping with once. He peed around the perimeter of our camp, and explained that the urine from a meat-eating male is perceived by critters like snakes and coyotes as a marked territory, and that they trespass at their own risk. I've been doing this now for about four months, and so far, it seems to be fail-proof.

[cynthia_h]

Shades of "Never Cry Wolf"!

But, hey, it's *very* low-tech, sustainable, etc.

Let's just hope your neighbors don't see you and send in a police report of "weird" behavior...

Must be nice to sleep at night now and not wonder, "How much are the varmints going to eat *tonight* ?"

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Charlie MV]

It is more effective if you yell "RANGER" while you pee. Somebody else here has ecological whizzing down to a fine art for composting but I can't remember who.

[webmaster]

Well, that's pretty unconventional but plausible.

I'd be interested in hearing from others who are willing to give this a try to see if it works.

Seriously.

How long does a treatment work?

Does this only work for meat eating gardeners or will it work for vegetarians, too?

[David Taylor]

I have a standard-mouth mason jar in the garden shed where I gather and save my repellent. So far, I'm drizzling it around the plots about every two weeks. What the old Green Beret said is that it works for meat-eating males. If you're meat-free, though, why not try it anyway?

[su_ju]

Hmmm. Maybe I should get my hubby and boys to pee around the garden perimeter. Three healthy, meat eating males ought to repel everything, right?!

[David Taylor]

My 14 year-old and 8 year-old can repel most anything without any public whizzing. And that's even after they bathe.

[avantinow]

I'm going to have my friend provide me with some of your suggested repellent, and wonder if it repels gophers who surface from below the earth? Do you (did you) have this issue as well? Our predecessors in this house completely killed off over 1/4 acre of beautiful green lawn and plants, so what I have no doesn't attract much of anything except spiders. But I'm ready to put my garden in, and already have 5 ailing tomato plants with whiteflies that I'm fighting off. I know the gophers will return when there is food because in the past we've had as many as 100 gopher holes in our yard, which makes it feel like a hilly war zone. Help - anyone with successful ideas!

[David Taylor]

I've poured some of my repellent down gopher holes, with some good affect, but ultimately, they come back.

We used to have a group of kids in San Diego County, back in the '80's, that claimed an old Indian had told them how to get rid of gophers. They made a fortune plying their secret trade to the golf courses in the area, that paid top dollar for their services. Ultimately they grew up, and one of them came out and said the secret method was digging out a gopher hole until you were in one of the main holes, not just one of the exit holes, then stuffing it with fresh dog poo.

What worked for us for years, was that a buddy of mine got a hold of a garter snake, and forced it down a gopher hole in our garden. We didn't see a gopher for two years.

Notice how all my methods seem to require something gross?

[wolfie]

does it repel deer too?

[David Taylor]

Wolfie, I must apologize for not responding in a more timely fashion. Deer are not a major concern in my area, but I would think it would. If you try it, let us know what happens.

[a0c8c]

does it repel deer too?

The best thing for deer is deer pee. Get it from Academy or any huntinf store and starting marking away from the garden. It doesn't seem logical, but it'll attract them to the are with the pee, not the garden. You gotta mark a good 50-100ft away though.

Or just get an outside cat and teach it to chase deer, these are the two methods my father inlaw does to keep deer away from the feed he grows(or atleast used to before our horrible drought) for his cattle.

[Zofiava]

You can use dog hair to repel critters from your garden. Next time you furminate or otherwise brush your dog, try putting some around your garden!

That's what I read just now.. I will have to try it with my Kingston's hair!