Deer Deterrent / Repeller for Your Garden Using a Solar Powered Mp3 Player to Play a Person Talking

I remember as a kid seeing a radio under a bucket in my grandparents garden. This was their tried and true method of deterring deer ... and it worked! I have been using this same method myself and I have had a few people ask me where did I get mine as I have an usual setup. Like most people a plugin is nowhere near the garden so usually others use a radio and are constantly changing out batteries. This is such as waste of resources and if you try and buy a solar powered radio you will find out that they are just a gimmick as the solar panel supplied usually isn't enough to keep the radio going.

I have come up with a solution that is self sustainable and will last through several days of rain. The trick is having enough battery pack to last and a solar panel that is large enough.

Lets get started ...

Step 1: The Parts

This is more of a plug and play build. Lets review the parts:

1) the container: any rubber type container will do. Mine is a little big but I was trying to use what I had. These can be found at many local department stores

2) weight it down: you don't want it blowing away in the wind. I added some rocks and some logs in the bottom in case water got in things wouldn't short out. I suggest drilling couple holes in the bottom to let the water out if it does find its way in

3) the solar panel: this captures the suns power. Start with 10W solar panel. Then you need this circuit that converts the power to charge the battery pack. Next a Lithium Ion rechargeable battery packto store the sun's power for use over the night and next couple days if it is raining. Tape the solar panel to the top and drill a small whole in the side of the container to route power through.

4) playing a persons voice to keep the deer away: I used a mp3 player speaker like the one sold here on Amazon. You don't need to have a loud speaker rather just loud enough to scare the deer away from the immediate area. Look for any mp3 that is a person talking. I found some on a public radio station's website like found on this page

5) Plug the solar panel into the SunVolt circuit, then into the battery pack then finally the MP3 player into the battery pack. Enable repeat on the mp3 player and press play. You may have to 'wake' the battery pack using the power button on the pack.

Step 2: Lets Review

The idea is you put the mp3 player on loop and turn the volume to a medium loudness. Place the box in the middle of the garden and the deer should stay away. It works in my garden. I live outside of town in the northern part of Minnesota where the deer are a constant nuisance to gardens. If you are still having problems then I think a small fence and radio combination should do the trick.

Things to watch out for in this design. If you have several weeks of rain the pack may go dead resulting in the mp3 player will stop. When the sun is out again I don't think the mp3 player will automatically start again. I have not tested the player I linked in this build because the one I used isn't sold anymore.

Cheers!