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Repellents To Reduce Cable Gnawing By Northern Pocket Gophers, Stephen A. Shumake, Ray T. Sterner, Stanley E. Gaddis
Repellents To Reduce Cable Gnawing By Northern Pocket Gophers, Stephen A. Shumake, Ray T. Sterner, Stanley E. Gaddis
USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
There is a continuing need to develop improved repellent formulations to protect buried cable installations from damage by problem wildlife. We evaluated 2.0% mass/mass levels of capsaicin and denatonium benzoate in a polybutene carrier material (Indopol®) and an aboveground, rodent-deer plastic mesh barrier (Vexar®) for reducing gnawing by northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) on communications cable (RG-8U). When treatments were applied as surface coatings, neither capsaicin nor denatonium samples were lower (P > 0.05) in measnres of cable damage compared to control (Indopol® alone) or samples treated with Vexar® plastic mesh. When the test was repeated with a new …