Bambi and Peter Cottontail may be adorable in the movies, but rabbits and deer can wreak havoc on your own garden by eating any plant which strikes their fancy. Most repellents contain ingredients repulsive to animals like blood, pepper and rotten eggs. You can think of your own by blending or using household solutions. Keep in mind, however, the repellents wash off and must be renewed after heavy rains to be effective.
Safety First
Wear a respirator and gloves to prevent irritation, when applying repellents. When at all possible, always check a home made repellent on several leaves of a plant to be certain it will not hurt them, keeping in mind that fuzzy foliage is much more likely to burn. Wait a couple days to check if there are any side effects before treating the whole plant. Spray in early morning or late afternoon rather than in the heat of the evening the plants will have the time to dry off until they’re subject to the rays.
Blood in the Water
The odor of blood signals threat and may cause them to give your garden a wide berth. For this use, you can sprinkle dried blood — sometimes called blood meal — on or around. If you prefer to spray on it, Melodie Moore Idiot’s Guide to Household Solutions recommends that you combine 1 gallon of water and 1 teaspoon of this blood meal. It would probably be a fantastic idea to add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil as well to allow it to stick to the plant. Because blood meal is a fertilizer, if applied frequently it may burn your plants or cause excessive development. Additionally, it may draw in animals which like the scent of blood, like dogs and the birds which feed on carrion.
Make It Sexy for Them
Applied to cayenne pepper will make a sensation in a bull or rabbit’s mouth when it attempts to consume those leavesforcing it . The pepper, however, doesn’t actually harm the animal. You can either mix up a spray or sprinkle it directly on the foliage for plants which are not slippery. For the latter, according to Dr. Leonard Perry at the University of Vermont Extension, it is possible to combine 5 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 gallon of water.
Bad Eggs for Bad Eggs
Deer and rabbits do not enjoy the sulfurlike odor of rotten eggs. Theoretically, after it dries a egg mix is not supposed to smell very strong to humans, in the event that you’ve got close neighbors 33, but you shouldn’t attempt this one. To concoct it, Golden Harvest Organics implies that you simply just mix 1 gallon of water and five to six raw eggs. Before applying it you may need to strain the remedy so it will not clog the sprayer.
