Until now, I haven’t had a squirrel problem, because the hawk living nearby kept them good and scared and nowhere near my house. I even have bird feeders and pecan trees and don’t see any squirrels. That’s all changed recently, though - Mr. Hawk either went on vacation or he’s falling down on the job or something, because they’re back and they’re digging up my garden!
Yesterday was my last straw - I went outside and found the nasty little things had stolen flowers from my camellia, dug holes in my vegetable garden, and planted them. They’re digging holes all over that veggie bed - it’s a raised bed full of nice, fluffy soil, so I guess they think I made them a sandbox. I’m working on netting - I need an extra pair of hands to get my trellis for my cucumbers and beans up to form the fourth support for it, so last night I just laid it over top of the bed without staking it or anything. They got in under it.
I’m concerned that even when I get the trellis up and netting over the whole thing and the tie-downs in it, they’re still going to find a way in. Is there any alternative way to keep them out? One that works and that’s safe for the squirrels? (I really like the little guys, I just don’t like them in my vegetable garden!) I’m willing at this point to cede the rest of the yard to them as long as they stay away from the vegetables, particularly when I get around to planting my tomatoes.
I’ve heard that predator urine stuff is a crock. Does the hot pepper stuff work? Anything else? It also has to be safe to go around vegetables I intend to eat. Unfortunately, this bed is outside the fenced in area (had to go where the sun is) so the dog can’t protect it. Ideas?
I had a problem with them stealling the foam pads off my weight bench (the ones you use to keep your feet from getting bruised doing sit ups)
I dipped the ends in my homemade crushed red pepper olive oil…they only managed to get them off the bench before dropping them on hte ground after that.
olive oil (1 quart)
crushed red peppers (1/4-1/3 cup)
put peppers in an empty wine bottle, add oil and let sit for a week or 2, the oil will turn a nice red color, great for pesky rodents and damn good on breakfast of eggs, taters and whatever else you are mixing in.
You can buy squirrel repelent at your local gardening store. Or maybe just spray with lemon juice-- the repelent just has a citrusy odor. I have to do this every spring, as the little fellas dig up everything. After you spray a few times they seem to stay away for good.
I saved my flower bulbs this year with mothballs. I wouldn’t put them in the soil of the raised bed, but would put them around the perimeter so when they try to get under the netting they have to deal with the mothballs.
It sure worked for me. This was the first year I used this method and all of my bulbs bloomed. In previous years the squirrels would get 9 out of 10 bulbs planted.
Several years ago, back East, I got a HavaHeart trap, baited it with bread & peanut butter, and trapped the little pests one by one. Each morning I’d put the trap-cum-squirrel into my car’s trunk, go to work (crossing the Hudson River), and turn it lose in a nearby park.
Evidently none of them could swim, for eventually got rid of all of them.
I’d have to trap every single squirrel in this city. No way are the traps going to work.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen seen a mothball. Where do you get them? Just, like, at the store?
I did see pepper-based stuff at Lowes’, but it said not to use around things you intend to eat, and you have to reapply after rain. I thought I could just use it around that perimeter, but I figured I’d see if the netting worked.
I live on a busy road; it wouldn’t exactly be kind to acquire a “barn cat”. I’d have to get a new one every week or so, and they’re a little lax on the roadkill pickup here sometimes.
I’ve always heard that human hair is a very effective repellant for just about all outdoor critters. They say you go to a salon and ask them for a bag of hair they’ve swept off the floor. Sprinkle it in any area you want to be critter-free.
I can’t say whether it’s effective or not from experience. I actually have feeders to attract the cute little buggers.
Buy a pellet gun - a rifle that can be pumped to lethal velocities — for squirrels, anyway. If you’re a gal, the pumping might require more strength than you have, so maybe a boyfriend would come in handy, here.
I had a wicked squirrel problem a couple of years ago, and don’t even have a garden. I simply feed birds outside the den.
My last straw came when I counted 13 squirrels eating the seeds I’d spread on the ground for doves, juncos and other ground feeders. Bought the pump gun, and for 4-6 weeks, I killed about 20 squirrels a week. (There just are not enough natural enemies to keep the squirrel population under control.)
Even though it’s only a pellet gun, however, you might be violating local laws by firing it within the city limits. I never got nailed. My neighbors welcomed the rodenticide.
Haven’t had to bother much since then.
I had a hawk in the neighborhood, too, but that lazy so and so would roost high in a tree, and then swoop down to dine on the carcasses I supplied.
You can also kill raccoons with a pellet gun. I’ve bagged a number of them, but oh man are they malodorous. In fact, they probably stinketh worse than Lazarus, whose story was told in today’s Gospel :).
Anyway, if you just drop some seed close enough to the house, and sit by an open window. you’ll get some easy shots.
I had a god awful time with squirrels. They ate a hole through a sofit plank and got into my attic. I fixed the sofit a couple times, but until I replaced the wood with aluminum they kept gnawing through to get back in.
The problem with traps is, you use BAIT, which is an invitation for squirrels to come. There are a zillion of them, so the more you trap, the more that will show up to take the bait.
The Havaheart traps are time consuming, and trying to release a crazy squirrel out of one can be tricky. If you’re going to trap (and local/state DNR laws allow) use a trap that kills them. Either one in water so they drown, or a big rat trap. The rat traps don’t always kill them, but does help the survivors decide to go elsewhere after getting smacked. Maybe you could hook an electric wire up to a metal havaheart trap and electrocute each one you catch. It’s quick, and they deserve it! Consult with your attorney before doing so.
BB/Pellet guns don’t kill them that easily either, but will convince them it ain’t a good place to be. Just watch it! All it takes is 1 animal lover prick in your neighborhood to turn you in, or make a “man with a gun” call to the local cops.
The problem with mothballs is, todays mothballs aren’t your grandmas moth balls.
Some of them use a different formula that isn’t as toxic to humans as the old kind, but also isn’t as pungent to tree rats. Get a hold of the old kind if you can.
Cats don’t work, unless you can get a hungry pissed off stray. I sent both my house cats up into the attic to get those squirrels. They ended up playing Canasta with them on tuesday nights. The problem with using an alley cat is, next thing you know you’ll have a stray cat problem.
It can be a real battle getting those bastards to go away. Squirells leave a special scent telling other squirells that the area is ok/good to be in. You’ve got to convince the bastards that it ain’t. You’ve got to try everything you can think of.
I posted a thread a few years back about how I really, really, really hate squirrels. They were eating into my house, and they laughed at that pepper spray squirrel repellant.
Blockbuster did the trick. No, not the video store. The poison.
It comes in kind of a brick, and you can break off little squares of it to put where the little bastards will find it.
I had dead squirrels aplenty in a short amount of time.
Now, beware of the law where you live, and don’t put any where a neighborhood pet might find it.
Wow, you guys are hardcore! I can’t kill them. I just can’t. I like the little guys! I just don’t like them all up in my vegetable garden! (To tell the truth, I even think slugs are just adorable. Don’t tell them.) I’m going to try looking for mothballs, and the hair thing. There are just far too many to trap, and I absolutely couldn’t in all conscience shoot or poison the little guys. All they want to do is play in my big sandbox! (The net over which, I find, needs to be longer. Which means another two freaking rolls of net. Grr.)
Obviously, then, you’re seeking a nonviolent solution. With that in mind, I think we should nail down exactly what your situation really amounts to: Illegal Immigration. Those squirrels are impinging on your sovereign domain.
If you frame the problem in that light, I think our Dopers can come up with just the answers you’re looking for.
Then you don’t really have a problem yet. An annoyance maybe, but not a problem.
They’re cute until they eat a hole into your house and get in your attic, basement, or into the walls where they eat wiring, rip up insulation, shit, f*ck, reproduce, die, rot, stink, and generally make the biggest God damn mess you ever saw.
THEN you’ll be back here asking how you can get your hands on a bazooka as you’d rather blow your house up than share it with them sonsabitches! Trust me, I’ve been there!
