But important spots on this Most Unwanted list are also held by raccoons, foxes, woodchucks, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, moles, crows and the cute but voracious chipmunk. Dogs are a mixed blessing. They guard against intruders, but also poop up the garden. In many parts of the country, Garden Enemy No. 1 is deer, highly destructive of vegetables and ornamentals and bearer of the Lyme disease tick. But important spots on this Most Unwanted list are also held by raccoons, foxes, woodchucks, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, moles, crows and the cute but voracious chipmunk.
Dogs are a mixed blessing.
Trial and error teaches you that the best protection is a fence, equipped, if possible, with electric wiring that gives a memorable but otherwise harmless shock. If a fence is not possible for you, sprays such as Deer Away and Get Away and other commercial or homemade deterrents will work to some extent, but must be constantly renewed as rain and time decreases their efficiency. Empty soda bottles, buried with the tops exposed, whistle eerily in the wind and may scare away rabbits. Nurseries peddle natural scent repellents like coyote or fox urine. You could try your zoo for wolf urine.