Deer can be a headache for homeowners and an economic disaster for tree farmers, nurseries, and foresters, yet currently available deer sprays must be reapplied after any rain. Now a Duluth scientist has developed a way for plants to absorb hot pepper concentrate through their roots and into the leaves, rendering them too spicy for deer to munch. Tom Levar, a forestry and horticulture specialist for the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute, developed the idea using a chemical first used to treat muscle soreness in racing horses and, later, human athletes. The benign chemical, called DMSO, absorbs quickly through animal and human skin and into the bloodstream. Levar discovered that DMSO passes through plant “skin,” as well. He then combined the chemical with several bitter and otherwise unpleasant tasting chemicals for a natural deer repellent called capsicum. The pepper concentrate doesn’t harm the plant, so “you can use it when the plant is first put in the ground or incorporate it into the soil with established plants,” Levar says, adding that the plant will even emit a peppery smell. People “don’t notice the smell as much, but the deer sure know what it is. Usually it’s one bite and they move on.”

Michigan-based Repellex, USA has licensed the technology from the university and has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency for approval to market the compound, which also prevents dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, voles, moles, and gophers from eating plants and young trees, according to Levar. In tests at an Alexandria, MN, tree farm that had suffered huge losses of young conifer trees to field mice, the repellent proved 100% effective. Company officials expect to have Repellex Systemic Animal Repellent on store shelves in March 2011. Tests indicate the repellent is effective for an entire growing season.

Source: Duluth News Tribune

Posted August 25th, 2010 under Tech Transfer

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