Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
deer. And they kept coming back to nibble at the sad remains.
Clearly, action was needed.
Moles can be a bit of a nuisance in my garden. They are there,
primarily, to eat grubs. If you get rid of the grubs by applying
Milky Spore or beneficial nematodes, you will dramatically
reduce the mole population. For faster relief, there are a
number of castor oil products on the market that put castor oil
into the dirt. When the moles dig, they get the castor oil on
their fur, and they lick it off. This gives them diarrhea, and
they move on within a couple of weeks. I've found this quite
effective. A number of companies sell a battery-powered
spike that generates noise that is supposed to deter moles.
These may work for you, but I've found them ineffective.
Rabbits are only an occasional problem and don't usually do
much damage on the farm. What I do is mix a hot pepper
product with anything else I happen to be spraying and use it
to wet the leaves. This serves as sufficient deterrent.
Deer are another matter entirely. I tried all the standard tricks.
Bars of soap, hair clippings, urinating around the property
line, and similar homespun remedies did nothing. Spraying
the plants with hot pepper wax was inadequate and only
marginally effective. I have found only three things that really
work. The first is quite expensive: an impenetrable physical
barrier in the form of a fence eight-feet tall. The second is a
product called Deer Scram, which is a deterrent scent that is
sprinkled around the area to be protected. The third is the use
of a baited electric fence.
A baited electric fence is a regular electric fence that has been
baited with peanut butter wrapped in aluminum foil. Deer
