3 Best Coyote Urines to Repel Animals (and How to Use Them)

Furry woodland creatures are a wonderful sight to see, provided that they aren’t feasting on your hard-grown veggies and flower beds. Mammals can be the most destructive of garden pests and can undo months of work in a concise amount of time. Sometimes overnight!

Coyote urine is a powerful olfactory repellent, meaning it targets a pest’s sense of smell. Coyote urine is most effective at deterring larger animals that coyotes hunt in the wild, such as deer, woodchucks, raccoons, skunks, foxes, rabbits, groundhogs, birds, possums, and other small mammals.

Predator pee is an effective, all-natural way to deter destructive mammalian pests of all sizes, from mice and gophers to raccoon and deer. Predator urine deterrents come in many different options, including fox, wolf, mountain lion, bear, bobcat, and more. Today, we’re going to cover the most famous predator pee, coyote urine, and how you can use it to defend your garden from common pests. 

Pests Deterred By Coyote Urine 

Coyote urine works against a whole host of mammalian garden pests to greater or lesser degrees. Essentially, spraying coyote urine around your property or garden will create the illusion that coyotes are nearby and thus, make potential prey of coyotes wary of wandering into your yard!

Coyote urine is most effective at deterring larger creatures that coyotes hunt in the wild, such as deer. Many gardeners claim that coyote urine also works to repel woodchucks, raccoons, skunks, foxes, rabbits, groundhogs, birds, possums, and other smaller mammals. 

3 Best Coyote Urine Deterrents

Now for the main attraction!

There are a lot of urine repellent options out there, but some don’t have as strong of concentrated urine in their product as others.

Below are a few of the top brands on the market (in no particular order) that you can use around your property or garden to deter animals.

If you’re interested in a full list of the scents that coyotes hate and how to use them, you can read our handy guide here.

American Heritage Industries Coyote Urine

American Heritage Industries Coyote Urine is one of the leaders in the coyote urine market. It’s designed to repel predators and pests of all sizes that are generally targeted by coyotes.

American Heritage’s Coyote Urine is available in 16-ounce bottles, to boot. When applying coyote urine, you want to make sure that you continually reapply the scent every few days for maximum effectiveness.

Olfactory repellents, especially natural ones, are going to lose effectiveness over time or after a rainstorm. Reapplying means you can immediately recharge your scent marks and boost the effectiveness of the deterrent.

You’ll also want to ensure that you’re applying the coyote urine in nearby areas like your garden, deck, or wood line where you see animals entering your property.

American Heritage also offers fox urine as well, if you’re aiming to deter the prey of a fox.

PredatorPee Original Coyote Urine

PredatorPee offers a wide variety of natural urine repellent options, with coyote urine being one of the most popular!

In fact, PredatorPee Original Coyote Urine has been one of our most recommended coyote urine’s in many of our articles, and that’s specifically due to their inclusion of scent tags (plus being a high-quality product.)

This package not only includes a spray bottle with the repellent. It also includes scent tags, which is a big help when it comes time to refresh your scent marks as the tags themselves help to make the scent more pungent and last longer.

For spray options, PredatorPee also offers their 100% Coyote Urine Territorial Marking Scent in a 64-ounce spray jug option. 

Gardeners with larger properties, multiple gardens, or those who live in areas that receive lots of rain may prefer the larger jug so you can continually reapply the scents when they get diluted!

To use PredatorPee, you’ll want to apply it in areas where you have animals and wildlife visiting your property. This could include your garden, under your deck, or even the borderline of your property. There’s no need to spray it DIRECTLY on your plants, just in the surrounding area.

If you use the scent tag, you can hang it on a tree where you’d like to repel smaller animals nearby and reapply the scent frequently.

Shake-Away Coyote Urine Granules

If a liquid urine spray isn’t your idea of a pleasant garden defense, then we have good news! A granule option can be just as effective when used properly.

One of the highest regarded granule brands on the market is Shake-Away Coyote Urine Granules. It’s specifically formulated to repel deer, but the scent will help to deter the same mammals as coyote urine does.

You can sprinkle the granules around your garden or property line to deter animals and wildlife but remember; you’ll still need to frequently reapply the coyote urine granules, especially after a rainfall, in order for maximum effectiveness.

How to Use Effectively Mark Your Territory

When establishing a pee-limiter (get it?), there are a few strategies you can use to keep it working at peak performance against your mammal pests!

Maximizing The Efficiency of Coyote Urine

Predator urine as a garden defense is not dependable long term, especially if it’s your only solution. When dealing with large pests, you’ll see pretty quickly that you need more than just one line of defense.

A hungry animal will target your edible plants, whether or not your defenses are up. Olfactory repellents are not much help against a hungry critter. 

Predator urine will work best when coupled with a physical barrier like garden netting or an electrified garden fence.

You can mark the barrier with the urine, and the two defenses will reinforce each other against the onslaught of large pests.

If you’re using coyote urine consistently, then the chances are good that your pesky woodland neighbors will become accustomed to the smell. If they learn that the smell is not linked with a predator in the immediate area, then they might become bolder and resume their offense on your gardens. 

Like all olfactory repellents, coyote urine will lose its potency over time. Switch out the repellent every week or so to help keep the scent fresh and trick garden pests into believing that a coyote is patrolling the area. 

Rain can wash away your repellent, so be sure to recharge your urine marks after a rainstorm as well.

Like other olfactory repellents, predator urine is a safer alternative compared with poisons. It is less expensive than setting up a fence or netting system, but it’s also less reliable than a strong physical barrier.

Downsides of Using Coyote Urine

There’s no doubt that coyote urine is a great way to boost the effectiveness of existing deterrents. It can also work with some effect on its own, especially if you’re looking to spook deer.

However, you might run into some unexpected guests when using natural deterrents like urine. Remember that urines are traditionally used by trappers both for safety and to attract game.

Using coyote urine may attract actual coyotes and unwelcome dogs. Fox, Coyote, Raccoon, most other canines, and even bobcats may also be attracted by the scent.

This is another reason why it’s best to use coyote urine along with another deterrent – as it will be up to you to determine if coyote urine is a worthwhile deterrent for your gardens. Evaluate the wildlife in the area, as well as the dog’s presence, to decide if coyote urine will protect your garden or make it a meeting place for medium- to large-sized predators.

Final Thoughts

Coyote urine is a great pest repellent if it is paired with other deterrents.

Remember, a hungry deer or groundhog is not going to be held at bay for long by scent alone. A hungry animal will put itself at risk if it deems your garden to be its best option for a good meal.

Keep in mind as well that urine will lose its effectiveness over time, and rains can wash away the scent. Scent tags or marked locations need to be recharged every week or so, or more often if you live in a spot that gets lots of rainfall. 

The scent alone may struggle to keep pests away. But when paired with an electrified fence, netting, or barrier, it can add to your garden’s defenses.

Keep an eye out for an increase in predator populations, and stop using urine repellents if you see more predators in your area than usual. When in doubt, contact a professional. This is especially true if you see a coyote in your yard.

Thanks for reading! Stay safe, and happy pest repelling!

References

Walker, S. (n.d.). Effects of predator urine on deterring ungulate browsing of aspen on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. EWU Digital Commons.

Yocom-Russell, C. J., & Verble, R. M. (2020, November 5). Using Camera Traps to Evaluate Predator Urine Avoidance by Nuisance Wildlife at a Rural Site in Central Missouri, U.S.A. Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference.

Swihart, R. K., Mattina, M. J. I., & Pignatello, J. J. (n.d.). Repellency of Predator Urine to Woodchucks and Meadow Voles. DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Sanders, M. T., & Cawthorn, J. M. (n.d.). The Efficacy of Mammal Urine as a Lure in Camera Trapping Studies. Digital Commons@Georgia Southern.