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  1. #1
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Driving off rodents.

    I was talking about our skunk in another thread and realized that we've been talking about driving off anything in the rodent family for some time now.

    Relocation is illegal in many places. However, rodents, including skunks, gophers, etc. do not like mint of any kind or hot peppers.

    The most obvious thing to do is to buy peppermint oil ($13 US for 4 oz online last I bought it) or pepper spray ($17 US for Mace at the sporting goods store, good for 20 sprays). I do keep a loaded pepper spray canister on hand for immediate middle of the night issues. One spray just loads the air. Peppermint oil is highly concentrated so having that around in a pinch is also good.

    I have found over the years though that long term issues are best dealt with by either growing or buying mint plants and making my own pepper spray. Mint plants spread rapidly so I planted them in front of the house and in a pinch I'll buy small ones at Home Depot or the grocery store, re-pot it and place them strategically around the coops. In the evening, I crush a couple of leaves. If I find a burrow, I pluck the leaves, crush them and drop them in. The nice thing about using actual mint instead of dropping oil on things is that it's self-replenishing and doesn't wash away with rain.

    Pepper spray is easily made by crushing whole peppers or using powdered pepper (cayenne works well), dumping a bunch of it in water with a chopped onion, boiling the whole mess for about a half hour. Strain and cool the mixture then put it in a spray bottle, add some cooking oil, mix and just spray it on things. I do it on the ground around the coops and the coops themselves. It does wash away when it rains and doesn't last a very long time but it's cheap as dirt and you can just dump the stuff everywhere. It will ruin your spray bottle though so get a cheap one. And do keep in mind that it contains oil so don't spray it on your wood siding or anything that might stain.

    There's also the cotton ball method where you soak the balls in oil or pepper spray and put them around. I don't like to use this method around my animals though because they'll just eat them.

    If anyone else has ideas, please post!

  2. #2
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    I wouldn't use pepper spray directly on an animal...it's horrible for their eyes. I'd be prone to just planting mint, I think.

    I used ammonia in a slit-lidded jar to repel raccoons...maybe see if ammonia repels skunks, too, and put out some jars that can't be drunk from.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Does peppermint work? Sometimes field mice come in when it's cold in the winter and the peppermint essential oil I put out doesn't seem to deter them. Lark found one outside this afternoon and I don't want to use anything inside or out that will be bad for dogs if Lark is just going to try to eat them. I don't know if it's sunny enough for mint to grow where I'd need to put it.

    Oh wait, mint won't grown in the winter whether it's shady or not will it? Hmmm

  4. #4
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Definitely don't spray the animal if only because it's a scent deterrent and if the animal smells like it then that kind of defeats the purpose.

    Also, if you plant a patch of mint, you can just mow part of it to release the scent. It grows right back.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartrock View Post
    Does peppermint work? Sometimes field mice come in when it's cold in the winter and the peppermint essential oil I put out doesn't seem to deter them. Lark found one outside this afternoon and I don't want to use anything inside or out that will be bad for dogs if Lark is just going to try to eat them. I don't know if it's sunny enough for mint to grow where I'd need to put it.

    Oh wait, mint won't grown in the winter whether it's shady or not will it? Hmmm
    You would definitely want to use the oil in the winter. It would probably need to be refreshed quite a bit as well.

  6. #6
    Senior Dog Mr Kleb's Avatar
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    While this is getting OT I feed songbirds to collect data for a citizen science project. We sometimes have a problem with free roaming neighbourhood cats trespassing our property more than I prefer. Pepper spray as you've suggested is one deterrent. I have also read that strong smelling essential oils like rosemary, tea tree, lemon, mixed with and sprayed as you suggest can deter unwanted kitties.

    Back to your regularly scheduled thread.
    Andrew, Faye, Fitzi, and Lucy

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  7. #7
    Senior Dog janedoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Kleb View Post
    While this is getting OT I feed songbirds to collect data for a citizen science project. We sometimes have a problem with free roaming neighbourhood cats trespassing our property more than I prefer. Pepper spray as you've suggested is one deterrent. I have also read that strong smelling essential oils like rosemary, tea tree, lemon, mixed with and sprayed as you suggest can deter unwanted kitties.

    Back to your regularly scheduled thread.
    That's really good to know!

  8. #8
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Kleb View Post
    While this is getting OT I feed songbirds to collect data for a citizen science project. We sometimes have a problem with free roaming neighbourhood cats trespassing our property more than I prefer. Pepper spray as you've suggested is one deterrent. I have also read that strong smelling essential oils like rosemary, tea tree, lemon, mixed with and sprayed as you suggest can deter unwanted kitties.

    Back to your regularly scheduled thread.
    Ok thanks, do you have some mixture ratios. Unfortunately, I have this same problem. I was going to trap the cats and take them to a shelter, then I realized they were neighbor cats from 3 houses down they let their cats roams free. The cats come and kill my birds and so on. Hate the cats with a passion. They will hide in my bushes and so on. I hit them with the hose every time i see them and I am outside. Still does nothing to protect all my nesting birds. I usually get 4-5 nests a year in my yard somewhere including one elusive humming bird nest. I will spray my whole yard if need be to keep those things away.


    On the other side, one thing I have always used is hot sauce as well for Moles and Voles. Hotter the better, I like Dave's Insanity sauce, we are talking about sauces so hot that you put 1-2 drops in a pot of chili . Anytime I have a tunnel in my yard, hot sauce goes in, moles go away.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Mr Kleb's Avatar
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    Jeff, here's the page I've gone to.

    The 5 Best Ways to Make Homemade Cat Repellent - wikiHow

    I've also been tempted to buy a massive amount of cheap generic chili powder to sprinkle where they most frequently trespass in the front yard, which our dogs rarely go.

    I'll spare everyone my lengthy and passionate rant about free range neighbourhood cats, which our municipality sees fit to not require registration let alone routine vaccinations.
    Andrew, Faye, Fitzi, and Lucy

    Not gone, only gone on ahead - Bruno, Rex, BoJo, Kendal, Kingsley, Moonpie, Avis, Corndog, Stella, and now Achilles

    I invite you to visit my blog, Hidden Content .

  10. The Following User Says Thank You to Mr Kleb For This Useful Post:

    Jeff (08-06-2018)

  11. #10
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Well, I've heard human urine is a deterrent. Ok, guys, get busy.

    I use crystalized fox urine but it is pricy and I'm not doing an extensive area. Darn feral cat around here is even getting used to the motion sensor light that comes on at night.
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