DIY has evolved into a modern lifestyle culture that involves everything from tackling home repairs to painting. And, there are many resources where homeowners can find information on how to accomplish almost anything. While DIY can be highly satisfying, projects sometimes don’t yield the results you may have been expecting.
When trying to deter unwanted animals in your home or yard, DIY can be frustrating. With many general household and specific products on the market to get rid of nuisance pests, it can become frustrating when purchased items don’t work as planned.
Myth 1: Scent & Taste Repellents Make Pests Vamoose
- Capsaicin is a chemical found naturally in chili peppers. It’s what produces the spicy heat. It can come in a spray or liquid. Most animals will avoid anything with capsaicin, as it has a strong odor and taste. However, it is toxic to bees and many other beneficial insects.
- Essential oils such as lavender, rosemary, and peppermint are said to be distasteful to animals. Many homeowners choose this because it is an eco-friendly solution.
- Predator urine, such as from a coyote, fox, or wolf, is also a nontoxic choice that is supposed to scare away deer, raccoons, and other animals predators like to hunt.
Myth 2: Household Products Make Animals Skedaddle
- Soap shavings/coffee grounds have strong scents that are allegedly repel pests like deer, rabbits, and rodents. Some people spread Irish Spring shavings around the perimeter of their garden.
- Mothballs have an active ingredient called naphthalene, which gives off their pungent odor. They are pesticides and meant to kill moths or silverfish in an enclosed environment like a sealed garment bag. The fumes are toxic.
Myth 3: Moving, Loud & Visual Devices Make Pests Head for the Hills
- Motion-activated sprinklers will trigger a sudden burst of water that scares animals when they come within the sprinkler’s range.
- Strobe lights can act as a deterrent, disorienting small animals and making them feel unsafe.
- Radios/Sounds in the attic can deter animals looking for a quiet, undisturbed place to build their nests.
- Visual deterrents like reflective tape, pinwheels, and fake predator statues are meant to scare animals when they move with the wind or look like a predator, such as an owl decoy.
Do Wildlife Repellents Work?
Some of these repellents work, but they only offer temporary relief for outdoor spaces. They are mostly ineffective if you have an indoor pest infestation.
Repellents that work on odor or taste might work for a few days. The scent and taste decrease over time and wash away with any rain. Motion-activated and other visual repellents work at first as the animals are scared, but they quickly learn that the motion has no consequences. And, as clever beings, they figure out quickly that predator statues are not real.
Indoor deterrents do not work mainly because pests in your attic or basement, such as rodents, squirrels, or raccoons, have created an established nest and will not move out because of an offensive odor or movement. They get used to it as the new normal.
Critter Control Is the Better Solution
Infestations are best left to professionals who are fully trained and experienced in eliminating nuisance wildlife. Critter Control is committed to effective, humane, long-term solutions. In addition to eradicating pests from your home and yard, Critter Control uses exclusion methods such as:
- Sealing Entry Points: Old soffits, worn fascia, and gaps around vents are the primary ways animals make their way into homes.
- Installing Physical Barriers: These include fences and netting, and they can help keep nuisance animals out of gardens and from making dens under sheds and porches.
- Habitat Modification: This involves clearing shrubs and brush as well as removing birdseed or pet food.
For the best solution to wildlife removal and deterrents, contact Critter Control.