Use repellents that taste bad (‘contact repellents’) to deter crop or property damage by mammals to reduce human-wildlife conflict
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Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
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Number of studies: 12
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How is the evidence assessed?
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Effectiveness
50% -
Certainty
55% -
Harms
0%
Study locations
Supporting evidence from individual studies
A replicated, controlled study, in 1962–1964, on shrubland and a forest area of South Dakota, USA (Dietz & Tigner 1968) found that applying repellents to trees reduced browsing by white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus and mule deer Odocoileus hemionus. Treated aspen Populus tremuloides shoots suffered less browsing than untreated shoots (zinc dimethyldithiocarbamate cyclohexylamine (ZAC)-treated: 3% removed; tetramethylthiuram disulfide (TMTD)-treated: 3%; untreated: 12%). The same pattern applied for wild chokeberry Prunus virginiana shrubs (ZAC-treated: 0.7% removed; TMDT-treated: 6.8%; untreated: 28.9%). On trees transplanted from nurseries, there was less browsing on ZAC-treated than untreated chokecherry (ZAC-treated: 0.1% removed; untreated: 6%), American plum Prunus americana (ZAC-treated removed: 0.1%; untreated: 19.8%) and caragana Caragana arborescens (ZAC-treated: 0.8% removed; untreated: 4.5%). Herbivory on naturally growing Aspen and chokeberry was compared between groups of ZAC-treated, TMTD-treated and untreated trees (10 trees in each case). Chokecherry, American plum and caragana were transplanted from nurseries to two sites where they were either treated with ZAC or were untreated (total ≤64 trees/species). Herbivory was assessed as the proportion of shoot lengths removed. Aspen and wild chokeberry trees were assessed over winters of 1962–1963 and 1963–1964. Transplanted chokecherry, American plum and caragana were assessed in winter of 1963–1964.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study in 1982–1985 at three tree nursery sites in Connecticut, USA (Conover 1987) found that treating Japanese yew trees Taxus cuspidata with commercially available repellents reduced subsequent losses to herbivory by white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus. Results were not tested for statistical significance. The proportion of shoots browsed by white-tailed deer on trees treated with repellents (23%) was lower than the proportion browsed on untreated trees (41%). Over the three winters from 1982 to 1985, a total of 16 blocks of Japanese yew across three sites were studied. Each block was split into three plots (0.2–0.3 ha), which were randomly assigned to Big Game Repellent, Hinder® repellent or no treatment. Repellent was applied once annually, in November, following manufacturer instructions. Herbivory was assessed the following March, by inspecting 500–1,000 branch terminals in each plot.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study in 1989 on captive animals in Colorado, USA (Andelt et al. 1991) found that chicken eggs, MGK® Big Game Repellent and coyote urine, used as repellents on foodstuffs, reduced consumption of that food by mule deer Odocoileus hemionus more than did treatment with thiram, Hinder®, soap and Ro·pel®. Deer consumed less food treated with chicken eggs (89 g/day), MGK® Big Game Repellent (94 g/day) and coyote urine (98 g/day) than food treated with thiram (212 g/day), Hinder® (223 g/day), soap (308 g/day) and Ro·pel® (399 g/day). It was not possible to assess which of these feeding rates differed significantly from consumption of food treated just with water (500 g/day). Three female and eight castrated male mule deer were held in individual pens. Repellents and a control (water) were sprayed daily on commercial deer pellets at a rate of 10 ml/500 g. Pellets were dried for 24 hours. The soap treatment involved hanging a bar of soap above the feed container. Food from each treatment was offered in different containers (500 g in each), which were randomized daily, for four days, in May and June 1989.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, controlled study in 1997 in a forest in Colorado, USA (Baker et al. 1999) found that aspens Populus tremuloides treated with the repellents Deer Away® and the highest concentration of Hot Sauce® were browsed less by elk Cervus canadensis than were untreated trees. There was less browsing on aspens treated with Deer Away® (42% of sprouts and terminal leaders browsed) and 6.2% Hot Sauce® (56% browsed) than on untreated aspens (77% browsed). Browsing rates on aspens treated with 0.62% Hot Sauce® (65%) and 0.062% Hot Sauce® (72%) did not differ significantly from those on untreated aspens. Four fenced pasture blocks (each 0.41 ha) each contained 10 strips (1 × 23 m) of sprouting aspen. Treatments were Deer Away® and Hot Sauce® at three concentrations (0.062%, 0.62%, 6.2%). Each treatment was applied to one strip in each pasture, five weeks before exposure to elk and to a further strip two weeks before exposure. Two strips remained untreated. Two captive elk were placed in each pasture block, from 3 August to 5 September 1997. Proportional browsing rates were assessed by examining all aspen sprouts in each pasture.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study in 1997 on captive animals in a forested site in Washington, USA (Wagner & Nolte 2000) found that Hot Sauce® repellent reduced most measures of tree browsing by black-tailed deer Odocoileus hemionus columbi for four weeks, but not subsequently. There were fewer damaged trees in treated than in untreated plots during the first two weeks but not during the third and fourth weeks. There were fewer damaged terminal buds and lateral bites in treated than in untreated plots across all four weeks. There was no difference in the number of trees stripped of all leaves between treated and untreated plots on day one, but there fewer trees were stripped of all leaves in treated than untreated plots through to and including the fourth week. During weeks five and six, there were no differences in these measures between treated and untreated plots. Data were not presented. Three to four deer were held in each of four pens (0.75–2 ha). Two plots (>25 m apart) in each pen each contained three western red cedar Thuja plicata trees (0.5–1 m tall, 1 m apart). Plots were randomly assigned to a single application of 6.2% Hot Sauce® or were untreated. Tree damage was assessed between 4 February and 16 March 1997.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, controlled study (year not stated) on captive animals in Washington, USA (Wagner & Nolte 2000) found that treating food with Hot Sauce® repellent (as a trial of its effectiveness at reducing crop consumption) reduced consumption by porcupines Erethizon dorsatum, reduced consumption by pocket gophers Thomomys mazama at two of four concentrations and did not reduce consumption by mountain beavers Aplodontia rufa. Porcupines consumed fewer treated than untreated apple pieces at all four Hot Sauce® concentrations. Pocket gopher consumption of apple pieces did not differ between treated and untreated food at 0.062% concentration. At 0.62%, fewer treated than untreated pieces were eaten on two of four days. At 3.1% and 6.2%, fewer treated than untreated pieces were eaten. Mountain beaver consumption of apple pieces did not differ between treated and untreated food at any of the four repellent concentrations. See paper for full details of results. Trials were carried out on four porcupines, 12 pocket gophers and 10 mountain beavers. All were held in enclosures and were offered two-choice tests between apple pieces treated with Hot Sauce®, a repellent containing capsaicin, and untreated apple pieces. Solutions containing 0.062%, 0.62%, 3.1% and 6.2% of Hot Sauce® were used. Each concentration was tested for four days with each animal. Tests ran consecutively, from lowest to highest concentrations of Hot Sauce® solution.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study (year not stated) on captive animals in Washington, USA (Wagner & Nolte 2000) found that treating cottonwood Populus spp. stems with Hot Sauce® repellent reduced the extent to which they were chewed by beavers Castor canadensis. At all three Hot Sauce® concentrations applied, chewing damage was lower in treated stems than in untreated stems (results expressed as damage indices). Eight adult beavers were housed in pens that contained 1-m-long cottonwood stems of 7–10 cm diameter. Adjacent pairs of stems were randomly assigned for treatment by Hot Sauce® at 0.062%, 0.62% and 6.2% concentrations and untreated stems were available. Beavers also had free access to apples, carrots, pelleted food and water. The test was run for six days, then repeated. Damage to cottonwood stems was assessed at the end of each six-day period.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, controlled study in 2001 on a site in Italy (Santilli et al. 2004) found that two of three repellents significantly reduced browsing of olive trees Olea europaea by fallow deer Dama dama for three weeks following application. A lower proportion of plants treated with Eutrofit was browsed, relative to untreated plants, at one, two and three weeks after application (reductions relative to untreated plants of 100%, 71% and 41% respectively). Tree Guard similarly reduced the proportions of plants browsed relative to untreated plants (by 82%, 82% and 55% after one, two and three weeks respectively). Reductions in the proportions of plants treated with Hot Sauce® that were browsed relative to untreated plants (64%, 12% and 9% after one, two and three weeks respectively) were not significant. From four weeks onwards, no repellent reduced browsing relative to untreated trees. Olive cuttings, 1 year old and about 20 cm high, were planted in five blocks of 20 plants. In each block, five plants each were treated each with the commercially available repellents, Eutrofit, Tree Guard and Hot Sauce®, following manufacturer instructions. Browsing damage was assessed weekly, for eight weeks.
Study and other actions testedA controlled, before-and-after study in 1996 in a woodland in Oxfordshire, UK (Baker et al. 2005) found that European badgers Meles meles ate less food treated with the repellent, ziram, than untreated food, but cinnamamide and capsaicin treatments did not affect consumption rates. Badgers consumed 31–100% of ziran-treated bait over the first eight treatment nights, 0–10% over the ninth to sixteenth treatment nights and 0–3% from the seventeenth to twenty-eighth treatment nights. All untreated baits, and baits treated with cinnamamide and capsaicin, were consumed throughout the trial. A hexagon of paving slabs, each separated into four quadrants, was established. Each quadrant was supplied nightly with 20 g of Beta Puppy 1–6 months™ pelleted food. Untreated baits were used for 68 nights, followed by 56 nights during which treatment nights and control nights (untreated food) alternated. On treatment nights, the four quadrants on each slab each received one from pellets treated with ziram in the form of AAprotect™, cinnamamide with methanol, capsaicin with diethyl ether or untreated bait. Uneaten bait was weighed to determine consumption. The study ran from 19 July to 19 November 1996.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study (year not stated) in a woodland in Oxfordshire, UK (Baker et al. 2005) found that treating corn cobs with the repellent, ziram, reduced the rate of its consumption by European badgers Meles meles. Fewer corn cobs treated with ziram were damaged by badgers (39–63% of cobs) than were untreated cobs (82% of cobs). Among badgers that were repeat visitors to feeding stations, treated cobs were fed on (as opposed to rejected) on a lower proportion of occasions (10–34%) than were untreated cobs (60%). At two sites, 450 m apart, feeding stations were established, each offering 12 corn cobs and water. Sites were pre-baited, to encourage attendance, and the experiment ran for five nights. Cobs were treated, in equal numbers, with 5%, 10%, 20% or 40% ziram in water or with water alone (as an untreated control). Treatments were assigned randomly across cobs.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, randomized, controlled study in 2006–2008 in two agricultural sites in Connecticut, USA (Ward & Williams 2010) found that 10 commercially available repellents varied in effectiveness at reducing white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus herbivory on trees. At one site, trees treated with Chew-Not®, Deer-Away® Big Game Repellent, Bobbex®, Liquid Fence® and Hinder® had greater needle mass (140–234 g) than did untreated trees (14 g). Needle mass of trees treated with five other repellents (Repellex®, Deer Solution®, coyote urine, Plantskydd® and Deer-Off ®) (23–81 g) did not differ from that of untreated trees. Trees treated with Bobbex®, and Hinder® were taller (35–36 cm) than untreated trees (25 cm). Tree height when treated with the eight other repellents (23–31 cm) did not differ significantly from that of untreated trees. At the second site, where herbivory was light, there were no significant differences in tree heights and needle mass was not measured. At each of two sites, two blocks were established in May 2006, each with 12 groups of six yew Taxus cuspidata trees. Each treatment was applied randomly to one tree group in each block. Additionally, one group was untreated and one fenced. Repellent application followed manufacturer instructions. Trees were harvested in April 2008.
Study and other actions testedA replicated, controlled study (year not stated) on captive animals in Utah, USA (Miller et al. 2014) found that applying the repellent, Ropel®, to nylon items similar to those used on military airstrips did not reduce chewing damage caused by coyotes Canis latrans. Coyotes repeatedly tasted a lower proportion of Ropel®-treated items (67–75%) than of untreated items (58–83%). However, there was no difference in the proportion destroyed within 24 hours between treated (58–75%) and untreated items (58–83%). Twelve mated coyote pairs each had access to 1-m lengths of nylon strapping (3 cm wide, 3 mm thick) with three 0.2-m loops. Latex stickers aided adhesion of Ropel® and of water (as an untreated control solution) to nylon strapping. Solutions were applied four and one days before one treated and one untreated item were placed in each coyote pen. Coyote behaviour was monitored using camera traps.
Study and other actions tested
Where has this evidence come from?
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This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:
Terrestrial Mammal ConservationRelated Actions
| Actions | Effectiveness | Studies | Category | |
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Use pheromones to deter predation of livestock by mammals to reduce human-wildlife conflict Action Link |
No evidence found (no assessment) | 0 |
Synopsis Link |
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Drive wild animals away using domestic animals of the same species to reduce human-wildlife conflict Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 1 |
Synopsis Link |
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Exclude wild mammals using ditches, moats, walls or other barricades to reduce human-wildlife conflict Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 2 |
Synopsis Link |
Terrestrial Mammal Conservation - Published 2020
Terrestrial Mammal Conservation
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