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aachenelf

Your experience with dog hair as critter control

aachenelf z5 Mpls
11 years ago

Last year I lost about 75% of my tomatoes to squirrels. I would have lost more, but towards the end of the season I read about covering each tomato with a small, ziplock bag. That worked, but it was a pain.

This year I tried dog hair tucked between the stems and everywhere I could think of. I even put clumps of it in amongst my cukes and IT WORKED! I've maybe lost 3 tomatoes this year. My sister's pet groomer is going to give me as much as I want and also uses it to keep deer from eating her hostas. Next year, I'm putting it everywhere - even amongst my perennials.

Any experience?

Comments (8)

  • mzdee
    11 years ago

    Wow. That is great news. Something else to add to my arsenal. I used milorganite this year around the perimeter of my garden. I used it for deer control after the first "browsing" where they got me good taking my tomato blooms and pepper blooms. I don't know if its the milorganite or a tad more rain so they have slow their pace. But I have more blooms on all my plants and have harvested quite a few tomatoes and a few peppers since the first attack.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    11 years ago

    Well, my dog pen is upwind from my back beds, and I do think that helps keep the bunnies at bay. I sometimes see them in the back of the yard munching on the grass/clover but not up by the beds. Not sure if some hair blows here and there or it's the scent of the urine. I have noticed skunks and chipmunks in the beds and used to have a woodchuck, so who knows if the location of the pen helps or I just think it does.

  • aachenelf z5 Mpls
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well, the dog hair is still working (or something is working) and my tomatoes remain intact. Actually, since I started using it I haven't seen very many squirrels in that area of the garden. I'm kind of anxious to try it everywhere and see what happens. Lord it would be nice to drive the buggers completely from my yard.

    A squirrel committed suicide in one of my rain barrels the other day. I wept for him. (that was sarcasm in case you're wondering)

    Kevin

  • rusty_blackhaw
    11 years ago

    I used dog fur from a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, wrapped up in nylon stocking material on plants susceptible to deer damage. No detectable effect. Maybe the deer know that Cavaliers are a small, inoffensive breed. I have a deer skull*, which I am thinking of impaling on a stake and embedding that in the area to be protected.

    Or I could do what I did with the raccoon that was eating my sweet corn and trap it. Does anyone know where I can get an extra-extra-extra large Havahart trap?

    *The skull turned up one day in a remote part of our property, accompanied by random fragments of hide and fur. I suspect there was a scuffle involving one of our local coyotes, and the deer finished second.

  • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
    11 years ago

    That has been my experience. Dog hair only works for deer if it is still attached to something reasonably large.

    I have read in several places that squirrels eat tomatoes for their water content. If you give them water bowls, they will stop eating the tomatoes. It isn't something I know about since about 20 years ago, one of our squirrels took a bit from a habanero pepper. The entire species has avoided nightshades ever since.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    11 years ago

    "I have a deer skull*, which I am thinking of impaling on a stake and embedding that in the area to be protected."

    Now that would be flippin' fabulous! :0b

  • aachenelf z5 Mpls
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    or one could say: "That's different"

    I'm generally not a huge believer in these home remedies like dog hair. Maybe my squirrels are just really paranoid or had a bad experience in their youth or whatever. Squirrel populations in other parts of the country may be more mentally stable or just plain smarter. I'll keep using it because it isn't hurting anything and does add a bit of nitrogen to the soil as it decomposes.

    I did try the bowls of water around my tomatoes last year and the squirrels ignored them. Plus my tomatoes are located about 15 feet from my pond, so there was plenty of water available.

    Kevin

  • Valerie Quevedo
    last year

    Dog hair does NOT work for me at all to keep squirrels out of the garden. I put huge clumps of it everywhere, and they just dug all their little holes right through it.

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