Deer repellent strategies from Hampton Pest Management

As the deer population continues to grow on the East End of Long Island, deer control services have become an increasingly important part of our business. We want to keep deer out of your garden and deter deer from feasting on any of your plantings.

White-tailed deer consume an average of five to seven pounds of plant material per day. At Hampton Pest Management, our focus is protecting your plant material (we don’t want deer eating your plants, trees, and shrubs and ruining the aesthetics of a beautifully landscaped yard).

We utilize a variety of effective deer repellent products to dissuade consumption during both the growing and dormant seasons.

What exactly is a deer repellent?

Basically, they are deer deterrents. A repellent is any product that is designed to be aversive and cause a negative reaction to the animal. Animal repellents can be classified into 4 types of repellents based on their mode of action:

1. Pain – Consuming treated plant material causes pain to the mouth and tongue. This encourages deer to choose other feeding options. Example: Capsaicin.
2. Taste – Consuming treated plant material leaves bad taste in deer’s mouth. Example: Putrid Eggs, Lemon Grass Oil, Cinnamon Oil, and Clove Oil.
3. Fear – When interacting with treated plant material, deer become reminded of a predator and flee. Example: Coyote Urine
4. Aversive Conditioning – Consuming treated plant material leaves deer with upset digestive tract. Example: Thiram

Importantly, all repellents require deer to interact with the products utilized. And therefore, some consumption may/must occur for the products to be effective. For this reason, we highly recommend proactive treatments to plant material before heavy browsing occurs.

The Hampton Pest Management approach

During the growing season, we utilize Oh No Deer (active ingredients: lemongrass oil, cinnamon oil, and clove oil) as our primary repellent and alternate periodically with Miller Hot Sauce (active ingredient: Capsaicin).

We recommend monthly applications on most properties, but properties with heavy deer traffic are treated on a weekly basis. The plants that we have found to be most attractive to deer in the growing season are hydrangeas, roses, azaleas, rose of Sharon, and yews.

Importantly, both Oh No Deer and Miller Hot Sauce are only used during the growing season because the products will not stand up to winter weather or a deer’s voracious appetite when food is more limited.

For dormant season protection, we utilize Deer Pro Winter (active ingredient: thiram) which works as a strong repellent during the cold winter months. We apply Deer Pro Winter in November when deer browsing switches to broadleaf evergreens out of necessity.

During the dormant season on the East End, deer begin to target plants such as arborvitaes, junipers, hollies and even privet.  If deer pressure is high on certain properties, we recommend a second winter deer application of Deer Pro Winter in February.

One downside of utilizing Deer Pro Winter is the blue discoloration left on the treated plant material. The discoloration will fade throughout the winter season and will not impact new growth in the Spring.

Alternative Deer Control Strategies

Physical barriers such as deer fence and deer netting are the primary alternative repellent methods in deer management. In some instances, the installation of electric fences, gates, and/or driveway grates are the most effective and reasonable recommendation.

During the dormant season, plants susceptible to deer browsing can be wrapped in burlap. We can work with your landscape service provider to help develop a plan that fits your property’s needs.

Sources

Vantassel, Stephen M. (Host). (2020, December 8).  Using Deer Repellents in Suburban Areas [Audio podcast episode]. In The Pest Geek Podcast.  [Play Episode]

Deer Pro Winter Label [Label here]

Miller Hot Sauce Label [Label here]