Coyote hair as an area repellent for white-tailed deer

Abstract

Increasing white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) populations create numerous conflicts with agricultural production and transport safety. Lethal control is not always an option and area repellents, such as predator waste products, have generally shown limited effectiveness. We tested coyote ( Canis latrans ) hair as a repellent at feeding stations during the winters of 2000 and 2001 and along established deer trails during the summer of 2000 in northern Ohio. Feeding station experiments were conducted in which five treatment sites received one or three bags containing 17 g of coyote hair placed adjacent to or in front of a trough of whole kernel corn and five control sites received empty bag(s). In all feeding trials, corn consumption decreased at treated sites from 59 to 91%. Intrusions by deer at treated sites decreased by 48-96% in three tests, but did not vary in the first 3-week test when coyote hair was adjacent to the corn. Corn consumption and deer intrusions at control sites generally remained constant or showed an increase over the test period. In the deer trail test, use of trails did not differ between the pre-treatment and treatment periods for the control or treated trails. Coyote hair therefore served as an effective repellent to keep deer from a desired food source and should have use in protecting limited, discrete sites. However, coyote hair did not deter deer from moving along established trails.