New Safe Animal Repellants

Scotts is getting back into the animal-repellent business with products based on essential oils. They smell good to most people and ward off animals by confusing but not harming them. Deer-B-Gon and Animal-B-Gon are now on store shelves bearing the Ortho brand. They tend to last longer than other products because their oils are not as easily washed away by rain or snow.

The idea for using essential oils to confuse animals came from an independent product developer. "The product we're using is really meant to mess up the smell patterns for the animals," said Mike French, Scotts' vice president of global controls and the top brand manager for the new Ortho line.

The company began working on the product line about a year ago after learning that one-third of gardeners with animal problems quit or curtailed their gardening.

That's a big problem for the self-proclaimed "lawn and garden people" who make Scotts soil, Miracle-Gro plant food and Ortho weedkillers. Fewer gardeners mean far fewer sales.

Solving the animal problem could "help the whole garden category," said Patrick Kaiser, an Ortho brand manager. "We want to bring (gardeners) back into the category and take away the fear of wasting money because animals are going to ruin what they spent hours and money cultivating."