EFFECTIVENESS OF CAPSAICIN AND BITREX REPELLENTS FOR DETERRING BROWSING BY CAPTIVE MULE DEER

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.