Wf. Andelt et al., EFFECTIVENESS OF CAPSAICIN AND BITREX REPELLENTS FOR DETERRING BROWSING BY CAPTIVE MULE DEER, The Journal of wildlife management, 58(2), 1994, pp. 330-334
Because mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (O. virg
inianus) cause extensive and costly damage to orchards, nurseries, she
lterbelts, and ornamental plantings in Colorado, we evaluated 3 concen
trations (0.062, 0.62, and 6.2%) of Hot Sauce Animal Repellent(R) (Hot
Sauce), habanero peppers, Tabasco(R) sauce, Ani-spray(R), and liquid
MGK(R) Big Game Repellent (BGR) as browsing deterrents on tame mule de
er from 31 December 1991 to 25 January 1992. While consumption of appl
e twigs treated with Ani-spray and the 0.062% concentration of Hot Sau
ce did not differ (P > 0.05) from the control (tap water), a 6.2% conc
entration of Hot Sauce (100 times the concentration labeled for deer)
and BGR reduced (P < 0.05) consumption relative to the control and oth
er repellents. Although the 6.2% concentration of Hot Sauce and BGR we
re the most effective browsing deterrents, their effectiveness may be
relatively short lived if deer are continually exposed to them.