Protecting Veggie and Flower Gardens from Animals

It is that time of year, well for those of us who live in regions with limited growing seasons anyway – the time of year when the garden beds that we labored over, and the ground we’ve broken up begins to bring forth its bounty. Not far behind the early vegetables and flowers inevitably come the rabbits, deer and other animals hoping for an herbaceous smorgasbord. After putting so much of yourself into tilling the ground, fertilizing the beds, carefully planting seeds and transplanting tender seedlings, it can be quite devestating to go outside to check on the progress and see whole rows of buds missing and plants stripped of leaves by voracious animal pests. What can be done to prevent this wanton destruction? There is a an answer, a proven one – predator urine. Obviously, we use it ourselves at Winterberry Farm, and we sell lots and lots of bottles to people all over the world, but if that’s not enough to convince you, here’s some recent press recommending the use of predator urine to keep animals out of the garden in a safe way:

Garden beds at Winterberry Farm

https://www.greenmatters.com/p/protect-vegetable-garden-animals

“Predator Urine

You can buy predator urine online or at your local gardening shop. Usually, predator urine is more specifically, wolf urine. It keeps vegetable-predators — like deer — at bay because of its foul smell. Deer will smell the wolf’s urine, think a predator is nearby, and steer clear of your veggie garden.” stephanie osmanski

Protect Backyard Chickens from Raccoons

This week is the beginning of a series that will explore the many predators that threatens the backyard chicken flock. Proper identification of the predatory threat is key to implementing the right solution to this problem and keeping your hens safe.

chickens The first predator we will look at will be the masked bandit commonly known as raccoon, or scientifically speaking- procyon loter. This omnivorous creature can range in size from 23.5 in. to 37.5 in. and 4 to 23 lbs. In the wild, the raccoon lives an average of 2-3 years. If near water, they like to eat frogs and crayfish and other aquatic treats. On land, they will grab mice, insects and most applicably to us tasty eggs and sometimes the poultry themselves.

So, how do you know if it is a raccoon that is attacking your chickens? Well, if there is

raccoon raccoon

a raccoon presence, look for tracks(like above)in sandy or muddy areas. If chickens have been attacked by raccoons, evidence could include severed heads dragged away from the body, birds pulled unsuccessfully pulled through enclosures, birds whose necks have been severely injured and ransacked nesting areas. http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/raccoons.html

Once you have identified the perpetrator, then you will be able to protect your coop properly. Raccoons are savvy predators but almost every predator is another animal’s prey. It is the natural, genetically programmed instinctual fear of a predator that makes a product like predator urine work as a natural, non-pesticidal repellent. So, what does the raccoon fear? Well, one of its most common predators is the coyote and thus the most logical predator urine to choose would be coyote urine. 100% coyote urine is available at predatorpee.com with various applicators available depending on your exact setup. All you need to do is make a pee-rimeter around the area you are trying to protect – in this case your coop or run.

Of Mice and Lawyers – more wire chewing woes

Well, I have been trying to tell people about this problem for a while now. It seems that some consumers are fed up and have turned to the law to protest the use of tasty soy based wiring in their vehicles. . .

CALIFORNIA — Do you have warning lights and costly car repairs? Rodent damage could be the culprit behind your next break down. A class action lawsuit claims the type of plastic used in new cars could be attracting vermin that eat the wires.

“I never could figure out where the stuff came from until I saw the rat,” said Barbara Olm. On more than one occasion a tiny hitch hiker made a meal out of the wiring in Olm’s 2012 Lexus.

The 84-year-old poisoned one rat in her car, but not before the rodent cause more than $400 in damage. “The mechanic found a ground wire and coolant wire eaten by rats,” Olm said. . . . .

Chewed up insulation is a cheap fix but wiring damage can be costly. “I have seen a couple in the $2000 range,” Campanili said, and damage is not covered under warrantee. University Honda can’t explain what’s attracts rodents to vehicles, but attorney Brian Kabateck can. “The plastic coating around the wires is made of soy,” Kabateck said. “I am not a rat expert, but soy must be delicious to rats.”

“While we cannot comment on this litigation, we can say that rodent damage to vehicle wiring occurs across the industry, and the issue is not brand- or model-specific.” Victor Vanov Corporate Communications Toyota Motor North America

http://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/lawsuit-claims-car-wiring-too-tasty-to-rodents

Car owners across the country are getting into their cars these days, turning the key and finding their engine won’t start. The reason may be hard to believe: an animal ate their car’s wiring.

Now, a class action lawsuit claims millions of Toyota cars, trucks and SUVs contain wiring that is attractive to animals like squirrels and mice. Honda settled a similar suit a few years ago.

Thousands of car owners in recent years have ended up like Woody and Mary Herald, who two years ago showed us how animals chewed through their car’s wiring. “On the ground we found this connector, with six inches of wire on either end of it, that the varmints had chewed into completely,” Woody Herald said.

This new suit claims Toyota uses soy-based wiring, which is environmentally friendly but tasty to animals. . . . . .

http://fox17online.com/2017/02/08/do-animals-think-your-car-wiring-is-tasty/

While taking on the auto giants may be an option, it is likely to take lots of time before something is resolved. In the mean time, what is to be done for the average person who is stuck with a rodent taking up residence in their engine and feasting on their car wires?

“If you see any evidence of rodents under the hood of your car, you should buy a repellent immediately, before they cause hundreds of dollars of damage. That way, you don’t waste your money.”

http://fox17online.com/2017/02/08/do-animals-think-your-car-wiring-is-tasty/

Well, I have never been one to bring up a problem without offering a solution. Our PeeShots are perfect for this application. They come in an 8 pack and are “Pee-Loaded” with PredatorPee. Remove the lids and place the PeeShots near each tire and in engine compartment or other target areas in the vehicle. Remove before driving. Choose BobcatPeeShots for mice, CoyotePeeShots for rats and ‘coons, FoxPeeShots for squirrels, and WolfPeeShots for domestic and feral cats.

PeeMan Does Homework

It has been a long time since I have had to do any homework and a fairly long time since I had to help anyone with homework. And that is fine with me – guiding three daughters through algebra and geometry was no treat. I am glad those tear soaked math papers and frustrating nights are long gone. But, recently the PeeMan has been getting requests to help broaden the minds of youth across the nation. boy doing his homework That’s right – much to my wife’s disbelief – the PeeMan has been asked for homework help. Not just once either:

“Hello,

We are doing a school project on how to keep deer away from gardens. We were wondering if urine becomes less potent in cold weather?”

“Hi: We are a fifth grade Robotics team who is doing a project on safely deterring raccoons from people’s yards. We are doing the project for a competition we are entering that has a community service piece. We are designing a motion detected spray device that would spray a scent as a deterrent to raccoons. We have several questions about predator pee:

1) What type of predator pee would deter raccoons?
2) Would that type deter other animals too?
3) Would it have any bad effects on the environment besides smell?
4) How strong is the predator pee smell?
5) How do you get the predator pee?
6) How much does the predator pee cost?
7) Do you think it would work to spray predator pee?
8) Do you know how far pee would spray and be effective?”

These are just a couple of the requests that I have received from inquiring young minds. I am flattered of course and more than willing to educate them concerning all things pee. Just like I am willing to educate my readers. Today’s educational fact: Our predatorpee is 100% real, pure pee. Not manufactured, not synthetic, not watered down – it is the real deal.

Until I find more words. . .The PeeMan

Ask the PeeMan: Taxing Otters

This week’s question comes from a neighbor to the north(yes there is something north of Maine)in Canada. Inconsiderate river otters? WolfPee to the rescue!

Q. Hey ‘PeeMan‘. (Gotta like it!)

River otters have taken up the habit of crapping on the rear deck of one of our water taxis. I tried Critter Ridder which is less than useless. Any suggestions ?

Thanks,
Brian

A. Brian,
WolfPee is what you need. If you can, hang our ScentTags down near the waterline so they get a good whiff before they decide to climb on board. Animal behavior is always trickier around water, but give it a try…we have a great guarantee- if the WolfPee doesn’t do it, we’ll send you some BearPee at no charge and if that still doesn’t do it, we give you your money back! (As you can probably guess – we don’t have to do that very often!)
Thanks for writing – here’s the direct WolfPee Link:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/wolf-urine.html

The PeeMan

Until I find more words . . . The PeeMan

PredatorPee® and the Big 3 – Food, Fear and Sex

Now those of you who know the PeeMan might think that this is nothing more than a juvenile attempt at an attention-getting headline. And you would be partially right. The PeeMan does have slight inclination toward the juvenile and the attention-getting. But this time there is so much more!

You see, in the wild, PredatorPee® is always right smack dab in the middle of the Big 3. When animals do anything, it is always related to the Big 3. They are either looking for food, trying not to be food or looking for sex. Pretty basic stuff, but to be successful, they really need to know what is going on around them. That’s where urine comes in. The scent of urine is the original wireless communication system.

When they are looking for a mate, the scent of the urine will tell both the good news and the bad news. The good news would be “whoopee” there’s a hot date nearby and the bad news would be that some other alpha-critter has already staked claim to the territory.

When they are looking for food, it is the absence of pee that is the good news because it means there are not predators around and the buffet (your garden or shrubs) is open! But that all stops in a hurry, when they catch a whiff of a predator’s urine. When they sense that a predator may be near by, it means that there is a decision that must be made. And it may be a decision of life or death. Is it going to be a delicious snack or will it be their last supper? The instinctive drive to survive usually wins out, they choose not to be the food and they go somewhere else (your neighbor’s garden) to find a safer food source.

That’s how PredatorPee® works – it’s an all natural motivator that animals understand very well! The concept is helpful to understand when you set up the PredatorPee®-rimeter around your garden.

If fear and food are in competition with each other, why make it a fair fight? Its always a good idea to remove pet food etc. and to position the ScentTags or 33Day Dispensers back aways from any possible food source like the garden itself so that the pest animal will get a good sniff of the PredatorPee® well before he smells your tomatoes.

Until I find more(attention getting)words . . .The PeeMan

Ask the PeeMan – wild horses

Greetings from the snowy north woods!

I have made an executive blogging decision. “Ask the PeeMan” Wednesdays are going to be a new regular feature on the blog. I get so many interesting questions in my PeeMail every day and I answer them all personally. So, why not share them with you?

So, to kick things off, I bring you a question from “down under” . . .

Hi.
I saw your website online.
First off all I have a question about the best solution for wild horse pests? Is it Bear urine?
Or would you suggest something else.
Also if you apply urine to the perimeter of a property. How long is it effective for? How often would you need to reapply it? Is it only effective while the urine is still wet? Or is it still effective when the urine dries out, meaning does the scent remain for doe time.
How does it work? Does it scare the horses off cause they think there is a bear near by?
What if horses haven’t smelt a bears urine before? Will it still be effective.
The reason I ask is I’m in Australia and there’s no bears here. So would the product still be effective as its a smell that wild horses here wouldn’t have experienced before.
Can you post to Australia?

Adam from Australia

Alpine_Way_brumbies Adam,
Thanks for your questions. As you know, most of the wild pesty critters that Australia deals with today originally came from Europe or North America along with their human companions. Your “brumbies” are no different and that is exactly why BearPee will still scare them. PredatorPee seems to work by triggering fear instincts that are buried deep in the genetic code. Your wild horses are still ours at heart! – and they are still afraid of bears.
Since a horse’s sense of smell is far greater than ours, the pee scent is effective long after it has dried. See this link for application and info on our ScentTags and 33Day dispensers:
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/Application-Instructions.html
http://www.predatorpeestore.com/bear-urine.html

And yes, we do ship to Australia via Priority Mail – it usually takes about 1 week to 10 days.
KJ The PeeMan

Until I find more words(and questions). . .The PeeMan

Thoughts on the Coyote Problem

Greetings! Winter returned in a big way up here with a foot of freshly fallen snow and arctic air right on its heels. Good day for bloggin’

Over 30 years ago, when we first pioneered the use of Predator Urine to control animal pests; the big animal problem in the U.S was deer. The spread of suburbia into the rural areas of the country coupled with more restrictive hunting laws caused the deer herds to expand and discover new gourmet menu choices amidst the suburban lawns and gardens. Deer no longer had to struggle to find food when a veritable smorgasbord of delights awaited them within and easy amble. Cedar hedges, ornamental shrubs, garden vegetables, and the low-hanging fruit of those pretty little dwarf apple trees.

And, alas, the homeowners were not amused and the use of Predator Urine as a deterrent was born. COYOTEPROBS But, the homeowners were not the only ones who noticed the expansion of the deer herd. Coyotes took notice. Over the last 30 years we have been able to watch the way nature always works to stay in balance. I see this as evidence of God’s perfect design, others see it differently. But no matter how you see it, you must admit it is a wonder to observe.

Where there were once few people and the deer struggled to survive became places where people live and work and deer exceed the capacity of the landscape. Now, enter the coyote. The coyote has made its presence known in a big way throughout the urban and suburban landscape of the U.S.

Now, 30 years later, the biggest pest facing homeowners in America is the coyote and once again the PeeMan has the answer. PredatorPee® WolfPee is now the biggest selling PredatorPee® product in the American market. But don’t take my word for it, just check out what’s come to my PeeMail inbox:

“…After we bought your WolfPee last year, we did not have any problems with coyotes whatsoever and we thank you for that. New year and we have three cats we must protect. I thank you and will place my large order soon…”

Margery F. Walpole, MA

“I believe this is my third purchase from you, and it seems to be deterring the coyotes, so I’m going to continue hanging it on my fence to keep them at bay, from my doggies.”

Susanne – Denver, CO

“Predator Pee has worked and I have become your loyal customer. Your service is prompt and accurate!”

Kathy – Livingston, NJ

“I have been ordering the wolf pee from you for a couple years now…There is no one else who does what you do!”

Laurie – Corrales, NM

“It really works…we haven’t seen a coyote in the neighborhood for years now.”

Nancy – Woodinville, WA

But it is not only our customers that have discovered that WolfPee works for Coyotes. In largest study of urban coyotes ever conducted, researchers working with Stan Gehrt, an assistant professor at Ohio State University found that wolf urine worked successfully to kept coyotes out of a yard. Wolves were at one time natural enemies of the coyotes.

And even celebrities like Kristen Ritter are talking about it. Here is what she had to say on Conan.

This just makes me ponder: “What will be next?”

Until I find more words(or the next big pest). . .The PeeMan

Tasty Wiring Biting Honda

Greetings from the North Woods,

Almost exactly a year ago I published “Green” Car Wiring Tickles Rodent Tastebuds on this very blog and what should I stumble across today but more news about exactly how tasty car makers have been making their wiring! So tasty that angry customers are actually starting to sue! The below article from nbcnews.com details a class-action lawsuit against carmaker Honda. It seems that in the company’s zeal to pursue eco-friendliness, they have made friends of mice and enemies of some of their customers. The damages caused by the rodents can add up to thousands of dollars very quickly. While Honda deals with angry customers, there is a solution for those of you stuck with yummy soy-based products in your vehicles – predator urine. I am not just saying that – Wiley Faris of Arapahoe Autotek is quoted in the article below – “Predator urine is a good deterrent,” Faris said. “That stuff can take care of the critter damage pretty quick.”

Where do you get predator urine? Predatorpee.com .com of course! Auto mechanics, car dealers, and pest control specialists just like Faris have begun telling their customers about our products, specifically our PredatorPee PeeShots for vehicles and other indoor applications. They are available with WolfPee, FoxPee, BobcatPee, and Mt. LionPee depending on the particular pest you are trying to deter. So, while you are waiting for your class-action money, protect your car from any further damage with predator urine. urine.

Honda’s Soy-Based Wiring Covers Irresistible to Rodents: Lawsuit

by Lucy Bayley

Environmentally friendly car wiring with a soy-based coating is too tempting for rodents to resist, according to a federal class-action lawsuit that demands Honda pick up the tab for the damage caused by gnawing mice, rabbits and squirrels.

The breach of warranty lawsuit, filed last week in Los Angeles and first reported by Courthouse News Service, results from the automaker’s quest to “go green” by using soy-based biodegradable wire coating. The coating costs less than plastic but does have a downside, according to lead plaintiff Daniel Dobbs of Wyoming.

In the lawsuit, Dobbs alleged that he had to pay twice to have chewed-up wires in his 2012 Honda Accord replaced at a Honda dealership. The second time, he said, mechanics wrapped the wires in special tape intended to deter rodents, demonstrating that Honda is aware of the issue.

That means car owners should not have to foot the bill for the repairs, argues Dobbs, who was joined by Honda owners in Arizona and Texas in suing Honda.

A deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), seen in an undated photo provided by the National Park Service. d) John Good / National Park Service via AP

“(The automaker) has turned this defective soy-based insulated wiring into another source of income for Honda and its dealers by charging aggrieved vehicle owners for repairs or parts to deal with the adverse consequences …that Honda should have covered under warranty in the first place,” the lawsuit says.

Other car owners not involved in the lawsuit say they have had similar problems.

“I just picked up my 2013 Honda Accord from the dealer with almost $2,000 worth of work completed due to a wood rat eating a main harness,” one dissatisfied driver said on a forum discussing the issue. “Then I find (that) Honda makes a shrink wrap tape specifically for the problem. Are you kidding me!!! Fix it from the start instead of putting the burden on us consumers.”

This isn’t the first time that the use of soy in vehicles has caused problems. In the mid-1940s, in an attempt to spare metal for the war effort, license plates in some states were made from compressed soy beans and fiberboard. Goats and cows were attracted to the vehicles and regularly chewed off the plates completely.

The soy-based wire coating also has been known to be appetizing. In 2013, the Los Angeles Times reported that rabbits had munched their way through soy-based wiring in cars parked at Denver International Airport.

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“They come to the recently driven cars for warmth, and once they’re there, they find that many of the materials used for coating ignition cables are soy-based. And the rabbits find that quite tasty,” Wiley Faris of Arapahoe Autotek repair center told the newspaper.

Faris suggested a solution for anyone seeking to prevent their car from becoming a critter snack shack – coating the wires with fox or coyote urine.

“Predator urine is a good deterrent,” Faris said. “That stuff can take care of the critter damage pretty quick.”

Honda did not immediately respond to a request from NBC News seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Pee-blicity! – Juvenile humor & Capitalism

I just recently stumbled upon the article below. Finally! A journalist who actually gets me. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better write up about our company, Maine Outdoors Solutions LLC. My wife and daughters especially enjoyed the “juvenile” humor comment, and “exemplifies the essential vigor of capitalism” is just about the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.

Thanks so much Jayson!

Enjoy the article . . .I certainly did!

A pressing problem: Which urine protects best?

By Jayson Jacoby/The Baker City Herald September 18, 2015 01:58 pm

Should I douse my wife’s garden with the urine of a wolf or a cougar?

As you can imagine, this conundrum is cutting into my sleep.

Nor are my choices, in the realm of liquid produce protection, limited to apex carnivores.

Maybe I can confuse as well as frighten the tomato-gobbling deer and the blackberry-pecking robins by sowing the place with the excretory scent of the fisher, a diminutive but apparently quite vicious type of weasel.

The online market for the liquid byproducts of wildlife micturition — animal pee, if you’d rather dispense with euphemism-by-obscure-vocabulary — is considerably more, well, voluminous than I expected.

Indeed, more than I could have imagined.

Turns out you don’t need to actually own a wolf — and possess a certain deftness with a catheter — to procure the protective powers of a predator’s urine.

An Internet connection and a credit card will bring the stuff — packed in a well-padded and leak-proof box, one would hope — to your front door.

Which saves time and, probably, a finger or two.

It was pure coincidence that introduced me to the brisk commerce in what’s generally considered a waste product.

Not long after my wife lamented the loss of her tomatoes to the neighborhood mule deer, I happened to hear, on a morning radio comedy program, a reference to “predator pee.”

I sensed a potential solution which would be simpler, albeit more aromatic, than erecting 10-foot fences.

Whether Predator Pee ranks as the most prolific purveyor of this substance I can’t say.

But its competitors would have to go a fair piece to match the Predator Pee website — http://www.predatorpee.com, of course — for sheer entertainment.

When I scroll through the site and try to imagine how it came to be, I envision a group of people sitting around a seedy apartment, tossing around ideas rather like the joke writers for Conan O’Brien or Jimmy Fallon. There’s a laptop on the kitchen table, surrounded by empty beer bottles

and grease-stained pizza boxes, and occasionally somebody types in an especially comical line.

The humor on predatorpee.com, as you probably have guessed, lands solidly on the juvenile end of the spectrum.

Puns abound.

The best of these is “pee-rimeter” — the pest-free zone you can create by sprinkling the urine of your choice around whatever it is you want to protect.

The company’s motto, as it were, is “Bringing pee to the people since 1986.”

Remember that year the next time someone contends the Reagan era was a repressive time.

The company’s line is not limited to urine. This is something of a relief.

But even the non-pee parts of the catalog involve other animal byproducts.

The company — its official name is Maine Outdoor Solutions — also sells authentic wool crusher hats. So far as I can tell this is the outfit’s only item that involves, or requires, sheep.

Also available is BearGuard, which isn’t what you probably think it is, what with all the previous urine references.

In fact BearGuard is a water-repellent for boots. It is, however, made from “real bear fat.” I don’t doubt this keeps the rain from soaking your socks. But extracting it from the bear must be a more, well, irreversible process than collecting ursine urine. Which, rest assured, is also available if your garden marauders are particularly fearful of bears.

Jokes aside, Predator Pee exemplifies the essential vigor of capitalism, and its existence proves that in a free market pretty much anything can be turned into a profit.

Indeed, these clever iconoclasts from Maine peddle urine as a way to attract as well as repel wildlife.

Pee, the company claims, will lure butterflies, because it’s an essential source of sodium and other vital elements for these graceful flyers.

The website boasts about this with the sort of breathless enthusiasm typical of online marketing, although the insertion of a single word (the one just before “business”) transforms an otherwise predictable sentence:

“We have been in the urine business a long time, but we always get excited when we discover a new use for this incredibly renewable resource!”

You won’t read that at the Harvard Business School.

The ultimate question, of course, is how Predator Pee obtains its raw materials. I’ll leave the details to the website, but suffice it to say the explanation is mundane.

The company does not, as I had hoped, employ a battalion of short people with quick hands who can move fast even while wearing galoshes.

Jayson Jacoby is editor
of the Baker City Herald.