Hello, Susan: Blood meal is only a temporary deterrant for these hooved locusts! If you use much of it, you will gather in racoons, bears and other critters looking for a high pro snack. It can also attract flies. The best thing for all of us who farm in Michigan would be a tough winter, followed by a total ban on baiting and feeding deer ---with enforcement! Shooting deer, even in large numbers, has not worked well up here (U.P.) Friends near Baraga got a 'Block Permit' for 30 deer and it didn't slow down the destruction of their corn or cabbage. We use a device called "Critter Gitter" which takes a 9-volt battery, and resets itself for strobe lights and noise patterns whenever the small infrared sensor discerns movement. They are not fail safe, but used with other things, certainly help. The noise they make is obnoxious, though...not something that would make a nearby neighbor happy. We got ours thorugh Brushy Mountain Bee Supply years ago, but now Northern Supply (tool catalog) has them. They run about 40 dollars apiece. Helped save our sweet corn last summer. Electric fence with an _energizer_ (more efficient than a charger) and solar powered is our best guard for greens and other high value crops. Call the folks at Premier fencing and their catalog and advice will be a great help. For small fruit trees, we use a garlic oil device that clips onto a branch and emits a garlic scent for weeks (hooray, doesn't wash off!) It is called 'Plant Pro-Tec' (www.plantprotec.com) Toward autumn, we supplement with a spray of surfactant (usually Basic-H), water, and hot pepper oil. Up here, Ray's Feed Mill (Bark River) has custom organic blends and ingredients in bulk. Their agronomist (Bob) is extremely efficient . The best sack prices seem to be from places like Peaceful Valley Farm Supply if you can stand the shipping costs. Go in with neighbors for a pallet, if you really want to save. We're finding that more and more feed stores will order organic ingredients if given assurance that you'll pick up and pay, and enough time to check with their suppliers. They used to snicker --not any more! For skunks and raccoons, the live trap Havaharts work well. Be sure to get on large enough. Bait with eggshells, peanut butter and meat scraps. Once you've caught a skunk, cover the trap with an old blanket to stop them from spraying or shoot them in the trap from a distance --however, this leaves an incredibly strong stench on the trap, and then you've got to soak it sometimes (Sal-Suds, hot water). Fox are not usually a garden problem up here, and seem to help control the rodent population. Somewhere along the line, Michigan's attention seems to be on the deer population more than farming. That's too bad. There certainly are way too many up here, and the existence of serious diseases being spread through the feeding and baiting is well documented. Good luck! -sue Cloverland Apiary Calumet, Michigan 906.337.4333 On Jun 1, 2006, at 7:07 PM, Susan Houghton wrote: > Soes anyone know of a certified source of blood or bone meal in a > quantity? > > Does anyone have experience using either as an animal deterrent? The > deer, > racoons, skunks, fox, and turkeys are plentiful on our farm. We can > get a > permit to shoot the deer, but would prefer not to. > > We have been using Hortonava trellis over heads of lettuce, but we are > running out, and that doesn't work for cabbage, broccoli, beans, or > watermelons. Any advice about suggested controls would be appreciated. > > > Susan Houghton > Giving Tree Farm > 15433 Turner Road > Lansing MI 48906 > 517-482-8885 > [log in to unmask] > Why Wait? Move to EarthLink. > > If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic > listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser > address bar > http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html > If you would like to access previous postings to the Mich-Organic listserv you can copy and paste the following URL into your browser address bar http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html