Dr Barkman’s DIY Deer Repellent

At our June 2024 Annual Meeting, Dr Todd Barkman, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University, talked about a deer repellent recipe that he has used successfully. He has shared that recipe with us.

Organic Deer Repellent Recipe

From Heritage Roses

Mix the following ingredients:

• 1-2 eggs
• 1-2 tablespoons cayenne pepper (try to make sure the cayenne pepper is finely ground because it can clog the sprayer)
• 1-2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1/8-1/4 cup liquid dishwashing soap (this will foam)

Mix up in a pitcher with a liter or two of water and then pour though cheese cloth into your sprayer.  The hot pepper and garlic fragments may be filtered out.  I tend to run more water through the cheese cloth to get the spray to be as rich with garlic and hot pepper as possible. 

Once the reddish mixture is in the 1-2 gallon sprayer, fill up the rest of the way with water.  Spray thoroughly once a week, preferably when you know it won’t get washed off by the rain.

You might want to wear gloves and goggles when applying this mixture.

By the way it might smell a bit like garlic, but the scent is usually quite faint.