Squirrels
Squirrels are a huge problem for us. They took every pear one year, every apple last year. We have a dog that likes to run after them, but they just laugh at her. We don't want cats. We don't want to poison or shoot them. Does anyone know of any other method to encourage them to move on... There must be something! Has anyone had success in discouraging them from eating more than the ample acorns -- greedy greedy.
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I wish I could help, but (post #16116, reply #1 of 10)
I wish I could help, but unfortunately, I don't have a solution to your problem. Squirrels feast on my plums and cherries, too.
www.vegetablegardener.com
Maybe plant some sacrificial (post #16116, reply #2 of 10)
Maybe plant some sacrificial trees for them on the outskirt of your property. Or convince your neighbor to plant some apple and pear trees. :)
I've not found anything, (post #16116, reply #3 of 10)
I've not found anything, other than laying down hot pepper, that will discourage any squirrel. Even a fence around and over a planting bed was not succeeful in keeping squirrels from the strawberries, although it did keep out the raccoons and rabbits.
Hot pepper is about all that has worked consistently.
The sign of a good gardener is brown knees, not a green thumb.
I was told that hot pepper on (post #16116, reply #4 of 10)
I was told that hot pepper on the birds food would deter the squirrels. So maybe there is something to it.
Depending on the law in your (post #16116, reply #5 of 10)
Depending on the law in your state, squirrels are easy to trap. It's surprising that animals as smart in many ways will walk right into a live-trap for some peanut-butter. Then there are laws about transporting animals. Relocating squirrels can be like trying to bail out the ocean with a cup.
Tom
We lived in Washington, DC, (post #16116, reply #6 of 10)
We lived in Washington, DC, for 20 years and were overwhelmed with squirrels. We found that putting out every morning a small bowl of whole nuts (eg. walnuts, unsalted peanuts or whatever) under a large oak tree, kept the squirrels from our vegetable garden. Essentially, we trained the first generation to eat out of "their" bowl and I saw mother squirrels training their babies thereafter. Once we figured this out, we had no more problems. They also like the remainder of any BBQ meat bones as they need calcium. It is actually quite amusing to look out your front door and see a squirrel chewing on a rib bone in the azalea bush! Grey squirrels are territorial by female, so once you have a local squirrel trained, she will run off all others! Annya
I have a see-thru Plastic (post #16116, reply #7 of 10)
I have a see-thru Plastic Dome that goes over the whole of the
Peanut/BlueTit feeder. This was bought from the R.S.P.B. catalog - I'm sure you could get one if you went on the 'www'.
It's the only thing that's worked........
Agree on the squirrel training (post #16116, reply #9 of 10)
I loved this tip because it is humane, amusing and practical too! Thank you for sharing. If you give them something easy to eat, like the bowl of nuts under the tree, they definitely will leave alone the more difficult food. Perhaps giving them shelled nuts would keep them even more busy and occupied! We have woodpeckers training the youngsters to come to the suet cake, so I am sure the squirrels do teach the kiddies about the bowls too. And the territorial aspect sounds right too.
Hey, Noel! Do you think Ruth (post #16116, reply #8 of 10)
Hey, Noel! Do you think Ruth can get a plastic dome large enough to keep the squirrels out of her trees??? ;)
Jack
squirrels (post #16116, reply #10 of 10)
The only way I've found to keep them from taking one bite out of each and every tomato and pepper is to loosely wrap each fruit in a mesh bag, the kind fruits and onions are packaged in. Very labor intensive and as you wrap ripening fruits they will attack them greener and greener until you just have to bag every one once it's a couple of inches in diameter.
The problem with pears is that they don't ripen until picked, so the squirrels sample those too. So, I just pick them ASAP once I see one or two bitten.
I like the feeding idea. During the winter we give them the leftover from our parrots' food, but never tried it in warm weather. If you have pet birds you know they pick through for a few favorites and toss away or ignore most of the food. So I just bag up what's left in the dish each day and the squirrels love it. You can buy small critter feed in grocery or pet stores.