Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 8:00 pm
|
Updated: 8:14 pm, Wed Jul 31, 2013.
Posted on
July 31, 2013
Apparently I am not alone in my never-ending battle against deer and other lawn and garden intruders.
Last week’s column was about a primitive fence I built around my small garden spot and how it seemed to be working as far as keeping the deer at bay. I also mentioned a product that smells like Irish Spring soap that keeps deer away from selected plants.
John Carder, my former UPS driver, endorsed the Irish Spring method. He says that plain old Irish Spring soap works just fine for him. Carder lives in an area infested with deer and uses shavings from the fresh smelling soap dropped in and among his plants. He also recommends putting a bar of soap in something like panty hose and tied to a nearby support.
“We have lots of deer in our area and this definitely works,” he said.
Jill Smith of Fluvanna County also has a few suggestions about deer control. Jill recommends a device made by ConTec called ScareCrow. It’s a motion-activated product that detects movement up to 40 feet and then shoots a stream of water up to 20 feet with a “phtt-phtt-phtt” noise.
Smith said she even had a bear prowling around and that the intruding bruin simply ignored fences and smelly repellents. But when he ran into the ScareCrow, he packed up and moved to new scavenging grounds.
The Fluvanna gardener does not stop there. She also uses a contraption from HavaHart called Electronic Deer Repellent to protect single bushes. It works on battery power, not electricity. It is acorn-scented to attract attention, but when the curious deer or intruder touches the four arched wires across the device, it receives a good shock on the nose.
“Nobody eats my azaleas,” Smith proclaims.
Celia Thompson has what she calls an urban driveway garden and erected a fence like I described in my column. It has kept the deer out, she says, but the squirrels are driving her crazy.
I think I have an answer for her squirrel problem. Squirrels have a keen sense of smell and don’t like red pepper. Companies put pepper in suet and in some birdseed to keep the nosy rodents away. I have been using red pepper on or near things I want to protect from squirrels. Squirrels, for example, will dig up new plantings in pots or in the garden, hoping for one seed or nut in the buried treasure. If you put a healthy helping of red pepper in a pot or on a hill of plantings, squirrels leave it alone. Dollar General sells crushed red pepper at a buck a pop and it works famously.
I am also thinking that the squirting device recommended by Jill Smith would supplement the pepper.
So, squirrels, deer and bears – be on the lookout when you fool with us human beings. We have ways!
Smallmouth fishing?
I am almost afraid to write this because I may jinx everything, but the James, Shenandoah and New rivers should all be highly fishable this weekend and most of the guides I talk to think the fishing could be phenomenal. It’s been a while since they’ve even seen a lure, they say.
Enough said. Let’s go bass fishing.
Contact Brewer at j44brewer@gmail.com
© 2013 The Daily Progress. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in
Sports
on
Wednesday, July 31, 2013 8:00 pm.
Updated: 8:14 pm.
Speak Your Mind