I found it somewhat effective in small raised beds: flaked or powdered hot Thai chili peppers. But one good rain, or a few days of mist & drizzle removed the effect.

I was only keeping cats and squirrels away - lazy cats and not-very-hungry squirrels.

Even so, they ate some of my flower bulbs and I finally bought a roll of chicken wire and weighed it down with bricks. That worked.

it also let me stop thinking about posts I got that wild animals would "scratch their own eyes out" if they got any pepper powder into their eyes.

I have read that in India, Bhut Jolokoi peppers are rubbed on fences to keep wild elephants out of gardens.

I don;t know about either of the above statements myself, but despite the rain, just a few applications of the kind of Thai pepperflakes we put on pizzas have kept ALL wild elephants out of ALL my beds. It is clearly 100% effective at that.

As puppies, my Standard Poodles would "teethe" on the baseboards. Someone suggested sprinkles of cayenne on the baseboards. I tried that. They LOVED it! Yummy seasoned baseboards.

Haven't tried it on my elephants yet. I'll check back with ya.

The coon photo caught my eye since I have a definite problem with them here. Never had an issue with them until last year when I planted Arugula in my flower beds. (I planted it for the blooms, not for eating the leaves.) To me, Arugula foliage has a "peppery" taste to it. (Maybe to others, it doesn't.)
Anyway....once the Arugula got big and healthy, it must have sent out a silent alert to every raccoon around here. They pulled up every single plant over the course of about three weeks...root and all...and devoured them.
Anyone know what's up with that ?

I used to have a pet parrot. His favorite treat was dried, whole chili peppers.

I drop them in a bottle of vodka to spice for a really HOT Bloody Mary.

Hot spice may be a natural attractant. Teaspoon of Tabasco in warm water helps sinus problems.

I've read that birds (most birds?) don't taste the heat in chili peppers. hence you can deter squirrels (some squirrels?) by adding cayenne to bird seed.

But I guess not poodles.

Where I lived in NJ, the only birds that liked safflower seeds were red Cardinals. Not even blue jays would eat it.

Interesting about the taste regarding birds and squirrels, Rick. I wish there was a deterrent to pigeons in my birdseed feeders.

>> deterrent to pigeons

I feel that way about squirrels and Blue Jays, but my war with squirrels goes back decades. Rats with furry tails!

I'm even squeamish about shooting a slingshot at them (not that I've ever been able to hit one).

The father of a friend of a friend used to keep a .22 rifle by the upstairs bathroom window so he could at least scare the squirrels away from the bird feeders while sitting on the pot.

>the .22. The image is imbedded in my brain for ever.... Thanks

He was a grumpy old cuss, and I believe he "meant business" when he aimed at the squirrels. The surprising thing was that he fed the birds, but maybe that was his wife's idea.

I never got to know him well enough to see any heart of gold, but maybe it was in there ... somewhere.

Eventually I decided that it was "OK" to shoot pinecones at squirrles with a slingshot. I don't know why I was reluctant, since I never got anywhere near them.

The closest I got to discouraging them was that they would move a LITTLE farther away when I came outside, but yelling at them was at least as effective as the slingshot.

And you just KNOW that the chattering means they're laughing at you!

Tree rats!

That image of the guy with the .22 on the throne DOES evoke a good laugh !

Some people keep magazines or a book handy, but this guy did his own thing.

Multi-tasking taken to new highs 'er lows - whatever.

Maybe cleaning your gun is considered multitasking :

I think it's almost a given that pests might dislike hot peppers and I wouldn't discourage anyone from at least trying a humane deterrent. I think I'd try dust variety black pepper for such a task.

I've watched groundhogs select and maul cayenne peppers leaving my milder jalapenos undisturbed. I'll assume it's in the flower, not the taste buds. The cayenne's were the preferred offering. They ate the fruit from the cayenne before assaulting the plants which came after fruit was depleted. Bells and jalapeno undisturbed.

No time or funding for a scientific study, but more than casual observation. My latest cayenne's are slightly protected by fencing and a lower population of groundhogs but if I find them eaten upon I'll be quick to judge and cast (temporary) blame.

Do you know where the ground hogs hole is ? (not a joke)
If so ,urine or dirty cat litter works well to move them to a new territory.

Try planting daffodils. Most critters don't like them and they'll come back year after year (the daffodils, that is !)