Aspen Bibliography

Effectiveness of hot sauce® and deer away® repellents for deterring elk browsing of aspen sprouts

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Wildlife Management

Volume

63

Issue

4

First Page

1327

Last Page

1336

Publication Date

1999

Abstract

In western North America, large concentrations of elk (Cervus elaphus) can have detrimental effects on aspen (Populus tremuloides) regeneration and clone survival. In some situations, management intervention to protect aspen sprouts is needed. We conducted an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of Hot Sauce Animal Repellent® (HS) and Deer Away® (DA) in deterring elk from browsing aspen sprouts during summer. We examined the responses of elk browsing on aspen sprouts at 3 levels of HS (0.062%, 0.62%, 6.2%) and 1 level of DA at 2 time periods (2 and 5 weeks postapplication). High concentration HS (6.2%) and DA were the most effective repellents; browsing on aspen sprouts was reduced by 45% with HS and 27% with DA compared to controls. Elk browsing on aspen sprouts decreased linearly (P < 0.001) with increased concentration of HS. Levels of elk browsing on aspen sprouts were similar (P = 0.249) for repellent treatments applied 2 and 5 weeks prior to exposure to elk. We conclude that HS (6.2%) and DA will provide protection of aspen sprouts from browsing by elk for at least 5 weeks during the growing season, but current economic costs limit the practicality of large-scale use of these repellents.

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