Popular Deer Repellent Also Promotes Plant Growth

About 30 years ago, deer were rarely seen here, especially in populated areas. By 1988, it was a different story. They had expanded greatly in number. They began grazing on lawns and gardens.

Bob Ecsedy, of Hattertown Road in Newtown, haunted by the plant damage, dreamed up a mix of substances to deter the deer.

After some tinkering in his basement, Ecsedy, who has a background in chemistry and biology, came up with a spray, now sold as Bobbex, which debuted in 1989.

He recalled having friends and neighbors test his invention extensively to see if it reliably caused deer to flee, before he sold it at garden centers and hardware stores.

For several years, he took just 13 steps to work, down the stairs to his cellar. But, a while back he turned over the business, he had operated with his wife Betty, to his son Greg and son-in-law Brian McCall, and retired. They moved the business to a building at 523 Pepper Street, Monroe.

“We took what was a ‘mom and pop’ business and turned it into a company that distributes products nationwide and to Canada,” Greg Ecsedy said, during a visit to his Monroe office. The product is widely used by gardeners throughout the state, including in the greater Danbury and Waterbury areas.  “Based on my father’s original product, we developed several new ones.”

Citing results of a Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station study released last year, he said the original Bobbex proved to be more effective than any of the substances produced by several competitors in preventing deer damage.

In the study, the various substances were sprayed on yew shrubs, which were later checked and compared for damage. Only a fence would be more effective in preventing deer from ravaging the plants, the study showed.

The inventor’s son said Bobbex, unlike some other competitors’ products, is designed to both help plants grow and prevent deer from eating them.

The spray contains several natural substances, pulverized dried chicken livers and meat and fish meals, which together produce a pungent odor offensive to deer. But, it also has in it Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) and urea to aid in plant growth, along with wintergreen to improve its smell, he said.

Bobbex, recommended for use on ornamental shrubs and flowers and around vegetables, can also curb damage from moose, elk and mule deer.

Deer in springtime enjoy eating the new shoots of shrubs and garden plants, especially when they bloom. Their favorites include tulips, rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas, hostas and fruit trees. They also devour the tops of tomato, pepper, potato and eggplants. The damage can be disastrous.

It is commonly thought deer eat people’s gardens and shrubs because man destroyed their natural habitat. But, McCall said housing development actually created a new habitat, much more lush than a forest, helping deer to flourish and proliferate.

“We developed 5-acre home sites with vast lawns and at least $30,000 in landscaping. The deer came to dine,” said McCall, who was a landscaper in the past.

While Bobbex seeks to maintain its market share, Ecsedy said the company seeks to expand with niche products.

One of these products is Bobbex Rose, a combination of the original Bobbex and other elements, which together deal with two leading enemies of successful rose propagation – deer and Japanese beetles – as well as other pests.

This spray contains geranium extract, which numbs the central nervous systems of Japanese beetles and causes them to die. It also wards off other rose enemies such as aphids, mites, leafhoppers, greenflies and sawflies. It can reduce diseases, including powdery mildew and black spot.

Meanwhile, the company has created a Canada goose deterrent, Bobbex-G, for spraying on golf courses, river banks and lawns, as well as Bobbex-H, to prevent horses from cribbing, or chewing their stalls and other wood.

Another product, Bobbex-R, can be sprayed to repel rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks and voles that damage a wide range of garden plants. Flower bulbs can also be soaked in the substance before they are planted to prevent them from being eaten in the ground by rodents or deer.

While his business has been successful, Ecsedy said he faces a challenge to expand production, distribution and sales while reducing the cost of purchase for the consumer, in the face of increasing competition.

“When my father started out, there were only a couple companies doing what we do.” he said. “Now, we have about 24 competitors.”