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The unexpected return of Weird Pest Control Products
Let's talk about urine, shall we?
As the push for ecological pest control solution becomes stronger, the idea of the use of animal urine as a deterrent has become nearly mainstream. It makes sense, right? Mammals are constantly communicating with one another by pissing on this or that, conveying their species, sex, breeding condition, and state of health to any nostrils tuned to the information. Prey animals would naturally avoid an area stinking of predator urine--it indicates there's a predator around, for crying out loud!
Of course, if that was where the story ended, no zoo in the world would need a vertebrate pest control program. To rabbit, squirrel, rat, or raccoon, a zoo is huge reeking storm of leopard, tiger, wolf, and god knows what else. But all of these animals are frequent visitors to zoos. Rodents, rabbits, and small scavengers overcome whatever fear the ever present stench of predator pee instills in them, because the lure of free food and shelter is too great. At Drumlin Farm, for example, I routinely found dead chipmunks that were too slow in pilfering food from the fox cage, and we know how foxes smell.
I presume that there is some use to predator urine's deterrent effect, in those cases where the attractant isn't so great as to outweigh it. It may be, for example, more effective to use fox urine to deter rabbits from a garden, than it would be to use it to deter mice from a silo full of grain. Honestly, I haven't used it in either case, but it stands to reason. Likewise there is a folk remedy for woodchucks, that involves dumping the contents of a cat box down the marmot's burrow. If I were a marmot it would certainly make me feel less welcome. This website sells a wide variety of urine types, with suggested uses for each. The most dubious in my mind is the use of coyote urine in concert with coyote decoys (ah! another chance to use my artificial coyotes tag) to repel geese. But geese, like most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell, if any at all, and so are perhaps an unwise target for this dual method.
But what about using urine to attract animals? They claim it works for butterflies, and why not. We've discussed on this blog before, seeing butterflies on manure piles, tortoises eyes, and puddles of garbage juice, in order to get the minerals they need. And depending on your local laws (not in Massachusetts, sorry) you might try the urine of a female deer in heat to lure that buck close enough to shoot. For those of you who didn't click that last link, the product is called "Hot Doe." Yeah, baby.
I kind of love that website. Not only do they have a range of "female animal in heat" lures, but they have the specific scents from the glands on different parts of the animal. A little interdigital gland scent here, a little tarsal gland scent there, and now this place stinks like a deer has been rubbing its leg all over it. I'm also fond of the language used in the moose lure product: "Successful Moose hunting is not only about finding a moose, it is also about bringing a moose to you in spot that not only affords a clean shot, but in a spot that’s not too far from your truck! Lugging 1500 pounds of moose meat through a mile of swamp is no way to end a hard day of hunting!" Now that's a pragmatic use of urine.
Another product from this company is more tempting to me: their line of cover scents. The idea is to cover the frightening odor of your predatory humanity with something more neutral to the prey. Depending on your setting, you could choose from a range of evergreen scents, including pine, cedar, and hemlock, or an inoffensive animal scent, like a rabbit. Wouldn't those make a nice cologne? Or would you just smell like a hamster cage? And my favorite is the most neutral of all: "Earth Cover Scent,...a scent that every animal is comfortable with. You can smell like dirt with Foggy Mountain Earth Cover Scent. A unique blend of natural scents that duplicates the rich odor of fresh earth." I am sold. Ten bucks a bottle? I might have to buy several.
I'm almost kidding and almost serious, folks, my usual state. I'm mocking the idea while completely excited and thrilled by it. I need a sample bottle.
How serious am I? No joke, I did buy a jug of coyote urine on Amazon.com today. Really. My goal? Why, to catch a coyote of course.
What sold me on it finally, was the user reviews. These are without question the most entertaining reviews I've ever read, and I'm a Nathan Lane fan. If there's only one link in this post that you click, this should be it.
As the push for ecological pest control solution becomes stronger, the idea of the use of animal urine as a deterrent has become nearly mainstream. It makes sense, right? Mammals are constantly communicating with one another by pissing on this or that, conveying their species, sex, breeding condition, and state of health to any nostrils tuned to the information. Prey animals would naturally avoid an area stinking of predator urine--it indicates there's a predator around, for crying out loud!
Of course, if that was where the story ended, no zoo in the world would need a vertebrate pest control program. To rabbit, squirrel, rat, or raccoon, a zoo is huge reeking storm of leopard, tiger, wolf, and god knows what else. But all of these animals are frequent visitors to zoos. Rodents, rabbits, and small scavengers overcome whatever fear the ever present stench of predator pee instills in them, because the lure of free food and shelter is too great. At Drumlin Farm, for example, I routinely found dead chipmunks that were too slow in pilfering food from the fox cage, and we know how foxes smell.
I presume that there is some use to predator urine's deterrent effect, in those cases where the attractant isn't so great as to outweigh it. It may be, for example, more effective to use fox urine to deter rabbits from a garden, than it would be to use it to deter mice from a silo full of grain. Honestly, I haven't used it in either case, but it stands to reason. Likewise there is a folk remedy for woodchucks, that involves dumping the contents of a cat box down the marmot's burrow. If I were a marmot it would certainly make me feel less welcome. This website sells a wide variety of urine types, with suggested uses for each. The most dubious in my mind is the use of coyote urine in concert with coyote decoys (ah! another chance to use my artificial coyotes tag) to repel geese. But geese, like most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell, if any at all, and so are perhaps an unwise target for this dual method.
But what about using urine to attract animals? They claim it works for butterflies, and why not. We've discussed on this blog before, seeing butterflies on manure piles, tortoises eyes, and puddles of garbage juice, in order to get the minerals they need. And depending on your local laws (not in Massachusetts, sorry) you might try the urine of a female deer in heat to lure that buck close enough to shoot. For those of you who didn't click that last link, the product is called "Hot Doe." Yeah, baby.
I kind of love that website. Not only do they have a range of "female animal in heat" lures, but they have the specific scents from the glands on different parts of the animal. A little interdigital gland scent here, a little tarsal gland scent there, and now this place stinks like a deer has been rubbing its leg all over it. I'm also fond of the language used in the moose lure product: "Successful Moose hunting is not only about finding a moose, it is also about bringing a moose to you in spot that not only affords a clean shot, but in a spot that’s not too far from your truck! Lugging 1500 pounds of moose meat through a mile of swamp is no way to end a hard day of hunting!" Now that's a pragmatic use of urine.
Another product from this company is more tempting to me: their line of cover scents. The idea is to cover the frightening odor of your predatory humanity with something more neutral to the prey. Depending on your setting, you could choose from a range of evergreen scents, including pine, cedar, and hemlock, or an inoffensive animal scent, like a rabbit. Wouldn't those make a nice cologne? Or would you just smell like a hamster cage? And my favorite is the most neutral of all: "Earth Cover Scent,...a scent that every animal is comfortable with. You can smell like dirt with Foggy Mountain Earth Cover Scent. A unique blend of natural scents that duplicates the rich odor of fresh earth." I am sold. Ten bucks a bottle? I might have to buy several.
I'm almost kidding and almost serious, folks, my usual state. I'm mocking the idea while completely excited and thrilled by it. I need a sample bottle.
How serious am I? No joke, I did buy a jug of coyote urine on Amazon.com today. Really. My goal? Why, to catch a coyote of course.
What sold me on it finally, was the user reviews. These are without question the most entertaining reviews I've ever read, and I'm a Nathan Lane fan. If there's only one link in this post that you click, this should be it.