Don't know about rabbits (cats keep them in check), but the deer have never minded Plantone in my garden.

I've tried many deer control methods, including straight blood meal, and my deer eventually got used to that also. I used old tub butter containers...filled them with blood meal and punched holes in the lid so the smell of blood meal could waft up into the deer noses, but the rain wouldn't wash the blood meal out. I placed these tubs strategically around some plants the deer were eating. Just like most deer control tactics, that only worked for awhile until the alpha deer figured it out. I do know that the deer do not like the smell of blood meal because eventually they got to where they would paw (hoof) the containers.

In the Spring, I spread Milorganite as a fertilizer and this does work. Unfortunately, once the weather heats up, the Milorganite seems to lose its advantage. I've no idea why. This has just been my experience.

My worst problem right now is the rabbits. I guess they don't like to walk through it and track it back to the nest.

Deer get used to anything. They don't even run when we go outside. Charm has to work her way through sleeping deer at night to do her business in the meadow! LOL

The deer here just make a path around the house and gardens. They literally have paths thru the field and I find deer prints most every morning in the driveway. But they have yet to pick at my plants. I know, I know, I may be jinxing myself but so far so good. They are pretty wild, we are pretty far out and I guess they aren't used to the human smell. The bunnies haven't bothered anything either, but do come out in the evenings to play in the yard. I put up a chicken wire fence around my veggies and they didn't even mess with them before I put it up. And they keep my pups entertained. The girls love to lay in front of the back slider and watch them in the yard. Cameron, LOL at the mental vision I have of a greyhound wandering around the deer to find a good potty spot!!! :-) They are such beautiful, graceful dogs!! And what sweethearts!! Those deer would drive my little ball of fire labbie nuts!! She even barks at trucks on the highway a quarter of a mile away!

Nannerbelle -- you must be living right! LOL

I think the deer must think that Charm is a tuxedo-wearing deer!

Spazzycat -- how about THIS idea? Why don't we suggest to the Carnivore Preservation Trust that they sell the "big cat" scat to gardeners as a fund-raiser! I think that'd drive the deer and rabbits away...until they figured out that we have no tigers! LOL My husband says there's no way he'd want to be around while the stuff gets spread around!

Actually, we think a fox got a few bunnies last night...from the sounds emitted from the woods. :-(

I've had good luck with Milogranite too. I have also placed a few doggie doos in the flower border and that seems to help. Just have to be careful when weeding!

I hear you about the rabbits, Cameron - they have been making me nuts for some time now.

But... three days ago I saw a gigantic snake (not a black one), it was either a copperhead or the dreaded cottonmouth (both are terrible, but the cottonmouth so much more dangerous)...

Found the snake right by the helianthus angustifolius - I've created a haven for snakes - and I have many more borders around the house, filled, packed with flowers....

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All of my borders are filled (pictures are just of the side garden, my front gardens are even bigger and deeper which is probably a gigantic mistake) - you can't see any dirt - and someone told me that I have created the perfect haven for snakes. This has really been scaring me. I haven't gone into one of my side beds for three days because if I walk down the path, it could be anywhere slithering through the daylilies, etc. and bite me. Now, if I could only get this horrible snake to scare/eat the rabbits (I know, terrible to say... cause they are so cute, but very destructive...)...

Thanks for letting me vent..

Carrie

PS - By the way, I have had luck using a Have A Heart trap for one of the rabbits, but sure wish I could trap the snakes....

Carrie

Carrie:
Just because you saw a large snake and it was not black does not immediately mean it was a copperhead or cottonmouth. You could have a milk snake, corn snake or even a hog nosed snake. I think it is unfortunate that there seem to be populations of copperheads in some residential areas here in the Carolinas because they give the whole snake group a bad rap. If you live close to a university, you could contact their zoology people and they would probably send someone out to collect it. One last thing, as far as I know, there are no wild snakes in the Carolinas large enough to eat an adult rabbit, but one hungry black snake could consume a whole nest of kits.

You should also remember that snakes do not seek confrontation. In fact, the opposite. If they hear or sense you, they will try to move away from you, not towards you. One day I was taking a walk in the woods and was stepping down from a log when I noticed a copperhead right below me. By that time, I couldn't do anything about it. My foot landed about a foot or so from the snake and rather than turn around and strike me, he slithered off. Whew!

Now, when the cat repeatedly messed with one, he bit him, but the cat is more loveable than bright. Did you know that cats have a natural immunity against venonmous snake bites?

I do understand about phobias though. They are completely irrational. I do not mind snakes at all and will sometimes encounter them in the garden, but a spider is something else. Can't stand them!

That's why I try to keep all my plantings (even the low mounding ones) trimmed underneath and away from the ground. If they're exposed snakes usually won't stay around long.

thanks so much for all of the above posts - especially the one about trimming underneath the low mounding plants)...

I am buying a pair of heavy boots when I walk through the garden... I don't care if it is 100 degrees...

Carrie

oh and tomatomike - I was hoping that either the milk snake or the hog nosed snake would look like what I saw after googling the names, but what I saw was definitely either the cottonmouth or more likely copperhead. This was an unusually thick snake, with grayish/brown markings - one that I had not ever seen before and I don't ever want to see again....

Carrie, your garden is beautiful and what I'd love for mine to look like. I'm terrified of snakes though. I am also planning on investing in some thick boots. Since I stepped on a snake the other day (it was small and harmless) I'm paranoid.

I did topdress with mothballs after the snake incident.. lol.. looks like we've had a hailstorm here.

Used to get copperheads all the time...I live right next to the woods. I've never liked snakes much, and will do the mothball thing and other things to persuade them to go elsewhere. I had about 40 trees cut down about 8-9 years ago, and we found 2 copperhead nests. Friends, I'm here to tell ya, it was not fun living around my house for the next year or so...every where I went I almost stepped on one. That kinda stuff will give you nightmares. Must have upset nature a bit when the all the trees came down.

Carrie - check the link below. Usually around here copperheads will have that "hourglass" marking on the back, "cateyes", and the triangular-shaped head. Also, they usually don't get very long (I killed a 4' one and that's considered VERY long). They get big in the middle, but taper down on both ends. As another poster said, they'll usually slither away from you, but the one my son and I killed didn't...we had no choice.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

thanks for the link - the second picture is closer to what it looked like, except that the markings were not as defined and unfortunately when I googled cottonmouth it looked more like that one ;0/ Also, this snake I saw was very thick and more grayish, but of course I wasn't there long enough to "examine" him... ;0)

I put a couple of pictures above of one of my borders - clicking one of those pictures will show more borders and how crowded they are... I have to completely change my way of gardening... the crowded cottage look is something of the past now.

Thanks for the support here on the forum... I haven't been around or near my crowded gardens in a week -

Carrie

I wear high-top Vasque hiking boots when I'm among the growth in the garden. They are comfortable, sturdy and waterproof (Gore-tex). Probably wouldn't stop a rattlesnake, but should work if the copperhead strikes the boot and not above. I'd rather not find out.

I know someone bitten on a finger while weeding. She lived, but the finger required surgery from the swelling.

Copperheads strike as their warning. I bike a lot. I've run down a few, but always lift my feet up off the pedals as they do strike when threatened.

Please don't use mothballs. Not good for the environment. There are some other snake repellant options from the hardware stores...though I've not tried them.

BTW, as much as I dislike the deer, I think this is kind of neat. On my drive home from work, I pass a farm pasture. The last few weeks, I've spotted an albino deer grazing in this pasture with a couple of his brown brothers. I mean, this deer is white as a ghost! Kind of appropriate near Halloween.

I've seen a pair of white deer over near Apex. They are spooky looking aren't they?

As for my deer herd, the fawns born (5) this year are just not afraid of us at all. They are hanging out in our meadow/gardens all day long. Sleeping, grazing...not running away when we go outside. I really thought one was just going to come over and play with Charm the other day! I guess a greyhound can look like a deer to a deer! LOL

That said, they aren't finding anything to eat in my garden except the branches of the KO roses that hang through the fence. Salvia, agastache are still in bloom and look fabulous. No hard freeze here this morning.