Luckily no squirrel probs here. I tried putting a fake snake by a chipmunk hole. The chipmunk grabbed it, dragged it away, chewed on it and that was it. I jammed empty corncobs in the hole and it took every single one out. Tried powdered Carolina Reaper, ghost pepper, oil infused with said powder. I think if I shot it, it would just get pissed off and try to kill me.
Wow! That must be why some of my stuff gets dug into and some doesn't! I have very thin drop lines to my raised beds! They probably think it's snakes! Wonderful!!
We had squirrels destroying our outdoor chairs by clawing out the wool in the cushions for their nests. We ended up spraying some garlic on the surrounding patio areas and they never came back. Even left our area completely.
Man, that was the end for me. Looked up in the tree to see my cushion filling stuffed in a nest. Sounds cute till I realized it was $80 to replace it. We got a live trap and drove them 10 miles out of town.
I tried fake snakes, fake owls, scarecrows, whirligigs, providing feeders away from the garden, planting a small bed of second garden specifically for them, chili powder, cayenne pepper, several commercial sprays intended for that purpose, and running out of the house in various states of dress throughout the day while waving a broom and yelling like a lunatic. What finally worked was the year my husband built cages around the garden. Cages work. Make sure the bottom edge is secure, and double-check the seams on top. Or it will stop working.
running out in various dress 😂 been there.., I sleep naked in the summer (no A/C) and have woken up to them eating my sunflowers… If anyone was up at 5:30am, they had a nice morning view!
Same here. The plants that I want them out of- my strawberry plants and potted lemon tree- I just built cages for. My other potted plants, including a large rose bush and hibiscus bush, they dig in a little bit but it's to bury seeds from the birdseed so I just replace a cup or two of soil periodically. I have cats that go out on my patio and hang out and the squirrels do not care at all. They dash around them or wait for them to come in. Cages
Metal cages are the way. They're horrible to build, and I'm tired of occasionally scratching my arms on the edges, but they work so well it's hard to recommend anything else.
I have trained my two year old to run out there, clap, and yell "go away, bum squirrels" whenever she sees them in the yard. 50% effective, 100% hilarious.
Ha, bum squirrels. My two year old yells "Shoo Squirrels!" but it comes out more like Chew Squirrels. I like that your daughter demeans their socio-economic status, i'll have to try that
Our dog obsesses over squirrels, so he paws at the patio door whenever he sees them to go out and chase them. When we see them out the window, we shout "squirrel" and he charges to the door.
What works temporarily for me is spreading a little blood meal and spraying that with the hose. Squirrels don't like the smell of "something just met a violent death here"
I did this, it was a short term success. I tried all of the internet hacks on my strawberries, then I used fruit tree netting. This worked for a year. Now I have a wire cage around it and this solution has worked great. Expensive and ugly, but it is the only permanent solution to squirrels.
Wolf pee (PredatorPee) is a much stronger deterrent than blood. A sponge on a stick dipped in it (like a sponge paint brush) will deter deer quite effectively too.
idk i watched a video of a guy with an air rifle shooting 100 of them in the head to protect their crop and they were climbing over the dead ones to try and eat his crop and bait still
This 100%. I used to have a horrendous squirrel problem, they use to mess with my chickens endlessly and dig up my garden. Then my idiot dog got her head stuck in some wire fencing I had curled up in the corner of the property and tore this mole off the side of her head and blood was all over the place.
Do i have to smell “something just met a violent death here”? I am completely unfamiliar with blood meal. Squirrels like to attack my plants right at the stem, and then leave empty handed.
I did this and it works! But some sort of hawk smelled the blood meal and not only destroyed the flowers, it also destroyed the entire wooden planter. At first I thought it was a bear. I miss the days when squirrels were my problem...
Do you have pets? We put cat hair from brushing my cats in the garden beds, the thought being the scent is a deterrent. And also peppermint oil, they hate that shit. Squirrels were so bad in my neighborhood they were eating wires and insulation from inside cars. After trying both these things they stopped being little shits and went for the neighbors yards (and cars) instead.
that exact feel when you wake up and with a steaming hot cup of coffee look out across the lawn to see that the little fucks have played pingpong with your tulip bulbs yet again
I made wood frames that sit on top of our beds made out of 2x4s and leftover cedar fence boards, then attach chicken wire to the tops. This works well while the plants are little.
This is what I do. I like it because we moved to a new house and I have no idea how bad the squirrels, chipmunks, deer, or rabbits are, so why not protect against them all for now
For small areas, planting forks (plastic ones are ok if you don’t have great-great-granny’s silver languishing in the china cabinet) with the tines up is a decent deterrent.
Not that I recommend this but ... years ago a friend asked me to grow some peppers for him - the super hot ones that I can't even touch without gloves. One day I was watering and wandering and found one of the peppers on the ground with a tiny bite out of it, either chipmunk or squirrel I think. I felt pretty bad for the critter - but it never happened again.
I fear the squirrels have bribed both our cat and dog. I see both of them putting some act when we are watching , but rest of the time allow the bloody squirrels to destroy our garden while they nap peacefully.
It's not wrong to eat a squirrel who has wronged you. Ya know who said that? Alpert freaking Eisenstein, and you could say that he knew a thing or two...
LOL, I tried this as recommended to train one of my dogs to not eat poop - would run out and sprinkle all the poop. She just came in smelling like a poop taco. Not a deterrent for her!
This is the only thing that has worked for me. Never harmed my plants, and I've been doing it for a couple years. Only thing that sucks is you have to re-apply it regularly, especially after rain. I've been buying the large restaurant supply size jugs.
I tried that and red pepper flakes. Squirrels are still messing with my plants. I think I'm going to try the rubber snake and pet hair ideas! (5 furkids so i have tons of fur handy) I have tons of black snakes always passing thru, and still tons of Squirrels. A person in the neighborhood had a large bird they keep outdoors. They don't secure its food. I see Squirrels running around with cracker packs, have pulled weeds and they end up being peanut plants. I think the free food is why my neighborhood is overrun with Squirrels.
I poke sticks in the ground sticking up a few inches in and around seed beds and seedlings, or lay blackberry vines on the ground. It seems the sticks are annoying and they dig elswhere, and don't seem to like thorns. Cats avoid the areas too.
My neighbor feeds squirrels but doesn't have any gardens, so they dig up our gardens right after we plant... Costs us hundreds of dollars a year, probably over a thousand since we moved in. Because our neighbor rescues the squirrels we keep getting more and more, way too many for our small neighborhood. Plus one attacked our 75 lb dog and cut her head open, which was a couple hundred dollar vet bill (aggressive squirrels suck).
Not sure where you are, but maybe talk to your local government office? There may be ordinances to limit that sort of thing. You know, keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for domestic, you know, within city limits. That sort of thing.
I'd have to side with you on the pellet gun. I'm all for animal rights and ethical treatment, but they can become a real problem. My biggest issue is fleas. Once a nuisance animal population gets out of control it's time to start decimating.
I'd have to side with you on the pellet gun. I'm all for animal rights and ethical treatment, but they can become a real problem. My biggest issue is fleas. Once a nuisance animal population gets out of control it's time to start decimating.
These gymnasts are the bane of many a gardener's existence. I love animals, but when I bonked one on the head with an ice cube out of sheer frustration, I was happy. He ran off to attack my garden another day, but he will remember me!
I use this stuff called uncle Ian’s. It’s a small animal repellent. The squirrels leave my plants alone after I apply it. I believe it’s cayenne pepper based and squirrels hate that. You can buy a 5 lb bag at places like Home Depot.
I actually am not sure, I had just assumed since I see squirrels digging pointless holes in other places in the yard. It does always happen after dark / before I'm out to the garden in the morning, so a nocturnal animal makes some sense, but I guess I didn't realize raccoons would dig holes like that, esp with trash cans nearby. I honestly didn't know that skunks dug for their food that deep either.
I just have a container garden and I’ve finally started making chicken wire cages with mosquito netting tops for my pots because those little bastards eat EVERYTHING!!! They ate my poblano pepper plant to the stalk TWICE and they even started eating and ripping up my pineapples! Forget my poor succulents, they didn’t stand a chance, RIP.
Start trapping them and releasing far away.. Its not permanent but you can put a dent in a local population. Suet cake bird feed wire the cage shut so squirrels cant get it. It'll draw smaller birds which will draw raptors. It helps I swear..
I have a haveaheart trap for squirrels. Capture one and release it ten miles distance from A to B, not road distance, in another neighborhood similar to mine that has a creek next to it. Rinse and repeat and eventually you'll have no squirrels.
I literally had squirrels chew thru a layer of wood and metal to set up shop in my ceiling. They would then come out and dig up all my sunflower seeds during the day. I set up some traps and blocked the hole. sprinkled pepper flakes all around and put one of those fake owls by my flower bed.
Capsicum worked for me, but it needs to be reapplied pretty frequently. I used cayenne pepper seeds from peppers my husband grew, super spicey from how fresh it was.
I feel you mate, planted a lot of bulbs over the Easter weekend and the squirrels now think it's a good time to bury the pecan nuts from the tree in the front yard.
I fucking hate my local ground squirrel population and the only thing I can do is plant stuff they don't like to eat, or build enclosures for my raised beds. (low voltage) Electrified ones.
I’m sorry, OP. I’m a first time gardener so I have no useful advice. I just had to say that your post almost caused coffee to shoot out my nose. I laughed way harder than appropriate at your choice of wording. 😂😂😂 Best of luck and keep us posted!!
I’ll take squirrels. I have a trio of aggressive raccoons. I chased one off with my daughter’s plastic lawn mower that played Ariel’s “Under the Sea” this afternoon. He stopped several times and looked at me trying to decide if he should come back.
I must have the shittest squirrel around, he's either got so much food that he doesn't care or is starving because he forgets buried nuts everywhere. I have so many walnut trees growing in my beds that I have to pull one up at least once a day!
Damn bastards were eating my lettuce and radish tops. I covered my beds with 1" domed chicken wire and sprinkled used coffee grounds I got for free from starbucks in all my beds. My logic behind these being that a domed wire cage will keep at least some of the plants out of reach and according to my quick Google search squirrels don't like strong smells so the coffee grounds are a free source of a strong smell that's garden safe. It's worked for me for the last few weeks and has saved the rest of my garden so far so maybe it'll help you. Gods speed friend.
I spread red pepper flakes all over. They don't like the capsaicin. But it only works for a few days I think. Also I have a rubber snake that worked well. I think fake owls work too? You gotta occasionally move the fake predators around though. Also unleash the dog sometimes.
29! It would be super funny if it was actually just the same few chipmunks getting caught and released and recaught over and over 😂 They're cute and fast but kinda dumb.
Feed them. I have a truce with the squirrels. I feed them plenty of seeds and nuts in exchange for them not touching my garden. Idk if they understood the terms when I explained it to them, but me providing enough food around the trees they hang out in has been enough for them to stay away from my beds.
They're annoying little bastards, that's for sure. Smart too. Our first year gardening we had this problem and nothing seemed to work. We finally bought a no kill trap. The first day we set it out, I came home to two very dead squirrels. They had given themselves tiny heart attacks and were clutching the bars with horrible expressions on their faces. While this was awful, we had no squirrels return to the garden for two seasons.
This is super interesting to me, mainly because this does seem to happen only at night which is why I wasn't 100% sure it was squirrels, but I also thought maybe they were doing it in the morning before I was awake.
Scare them! Lmao. It actually worked for me. Every time I saw a squirrel near my beds I would scare them, and chase a little. If they stopped to look back i threw stones near them 😂 They didn’t like it but I think they actually learned to stay away and now they don’t come near the beds
cats, dogs, rifle. I have seen people put chicken wire down over the beds, and let the plants grow through the wire. The animals can't get through the wire and the plants just grow through the holes. Downside is that if you have established plants, this would be very difficult to do.
I sprinkle pepper, but that only sort of worked last year. So this year I've been throwing kitchen scraps on the hill behind my garden and that has kept them out! Bunnies too. If they're full I guess they don't bother to come attack my garden.
I've made little (about 8" diameter) cones out of chicken wire to protect any plants I particularly care about, once they get big enough to outgrow their cages it's not an issue
You can try setting up a feed for your pests away from your garden and see if that helps. Just an Idea. Never tried it but seems like both parties could be happy.
Cliche but I put rubber snakes in my beds and the squirrels stay out. I’m in NW Florida.
Luckily no squirrel probs here. I tried putting a fake snake by a chipmunk hole. The chipmunk grabbed it, dragged it away, chewed on it and that was it. I jammed empty corncobs in the hole and it took every single one out. Tried powdered Carolina Reaper, ghost pepper, oil infused with said powder. I think if I shot it, it would just get pissed off and try to kill me.
This might be genius. I don't want to hurt any critters but I hate going out to my garden every morning and seeing my beds rooted up
Wow! That must be why some of my stuff gets dug into and some doesn't! I have very thin drop lines to my raised beds! They probably think it's snakes! Wonderful!!
I’ll try this too… hey out of topic question.. do you have sandy soil too?
Oo ima get some. Good idea. I also have cats roaming around that like to eat the squirrels. Double whammy.
Panhandlers unite!
That's genius
We had squirrels destroying our outdoor chairs by clawing out the wool in the cushions for their nests. We ended up spraying some garlic on the surrounding patio areas and they never came back. Even left our area completely.
Less vamps too
Man, that was the end for me. Looked up in the tree to see my cushion filling stuffed in a nest. Sounds cute till I realized it was $80 to replace it. We got a live trap and drove them 10 miles out of town.
And the bonus is your patio smells so savory 😂 thanks for this idea, I will def try it!
How did you spray it?
You are lucky, our squirrels dig up our garden beds.
I tried fake snakes, fake owls, scarecrows, whirligigs, providing feeders away from the garden, planting a small bed of second garden specifically for them, chili powder, cayenne pepper, several commercial sprays intended for that purpose, and running out of the house in various states of dress throughout the day while waving a broom and yelling like a lunatic. What finally worked was the year my husband built cages around the garden. Cages work. Make sure the bottom edge is secure, and double-check the seams on top. Or it will stop working.
running out in various dress 😂 been there.., I sleep naked in the summer (no A/C) and have woken up to them eating my sunflowers… If anyone was up at 5:30am, they had a nice morning view!
Same here. The plants that I want them out of- my strawberry plants and potted lemon tree- I just built cages for. My other potted plants, including a large rose bush and hibiscus bush, they dig in a little bit but it's to bury seeds from the birdseed so I just replace a cup or two of soil periodically. I have cats that go out on my patio and hang out and the squirrels do not care at all. They dash around them or wait for them to come in. Cages
Metal cages are the way. They're horrible to build, and I'm tired of occasionally scratching my arms on the edges, but they work so well it's hard to recommend anything else.
I have trained my two year old to run out there, clap, and yell "go away, bum squirrels" whenever she sees them in the yard. 50% effective, 100% hilarious.
I gave my son a water cannon for this same result.
Ha, bum squirrels. My two year old yells "Shoo Squirrels!" but it comes out more like Chew Squirrels. I like that your daughter demeans their socio-economic status, i'll have to try that
My six year old yells “SHOO” when he sees them. I think he likes having a chance to yell and not get in trouble.
Our dog obsesses over squirrels, so he paws at the patio door whenever he sees them to go out and chase them. When we see them out the window, we shout "squirrel" and he charges to the door.
What works temporarily for me is spreading a little blood meal and spraying that with the hose. Squirrels don't like the smell of "something just met a violent death here"
A month ago, I actually witnessed a squirrel chewing on the corpse of another squirrel that fell out of a tree during a storm.
I did this, it was a short term success. I tried all of the internet hacks on my strawberries, then I used fruit tree netting. This worked for a year. Now I have a wire cage around it and this solution has worked great. Expensive and ugly, but it is the only permanent solution to squirrels.
Wolf pee (PredatorPee) is a much stronger deterrent than blood. A sponge on a stick dipped in it (like a sponge paint brush) will deter deer quite effectively too.
Ok but... How much is my dog going to like that smell 😅
This has worked for me as well.
A Wild Rattata Appeared!
Oh my God, there’s something called blood meal?!
idk i watched a video of a guy with an air rifle shooting 100 of them in the head to protect their crop and they were climbing over the dead ones to try and eat his crop and bait still
This 100%. I used to have a horrendous squirrel problem, they use to mess with my chickens endlessly and dig up my garden. Then my idiot dog got her head stuck in some wire fencing I had curled up in the corner of the property and tore this mole off the side of her head and blood was all over the place.
A little..what? That's disturbing.
Do i have to smell “something just met a violent death here”? I am completely unfamiliar with blood meal. Squirrels like to attack my plants right at the stem, and then leave empty handed.
Until they get a taste for it. Then you’re REALLY FUCKED
What is blood meal??
I did this and it works! But some sort of hawk smelled the blood meal and not only destroyed the flowers, it also destroyed the entire wooden planter. At first I thought it was a bear. I miss the days when squirrels were my problem...
Do you have pets? We put cat hair from brushing my cats in the garden beds, the thought being the scent is a deterrent. And also peppermint oil, they hate that shit. Squirrels were so bad in my neighborhood they were eating wires and insulation from inside cars. After trying both these things they stopped being little shits and went for the neighbors yards (and cars) instead.
I keep seeing cat hair as a deterrent. How do you stop it from blowing away?
that exact feel when you wake up and with a steaming hot cup of coffee look out across the lawn to see that the little fucks have played pingpong with your tulip bulbs yet again
I feel this comment. SO. MUCH. 😭
This, but, it’s your heirloom tomatoes scattered about the yard… with only one bite taken from each.
😩😭😩
Bird. Netting!! Stake it around after planting the bulbs, remove in the spring before growth
I made wood frames that sit on top of our beds made out of 2x4s and leftover cedar fence boards, then attach chicken wire to the tops. This works well while the plants are little.
This is what I do. I like it because we moved to a new house and I have no idea how bad the squirrels, chipmunks, deer, or rabbits are, so why not protect against them all for now
Can I see a pic of what you mean?
I put up dried corncobs around my property to keep them busy.
My neighbor apparently does this because I find cleaned cobs in the fall and then sprouted corn plants in my beds come springtime 🤬
My neighbors do this but the squirrels just destroy my garden beds while they bury the kernels.
That's what we do. It has helped about 75%.
For small areas, planting forks (plastic ones are ok if you don’t have great-great-granny’s silver languishing in the china cabinet) with the tines up is a decent deterrent.
Maybe, but be warned they will not grow true to seed. Your unlikely to get fruit from anything grown from a fork.
I’m covering my raised beds with metal mesh (supported by bent metal conduit) this year because last year the squirrels were TERRIBLE
Not that I recommend this but ... years ago a friend asked me to grow some peppers for him - the super hot ones that I can't even touch without gloves. One day I was watering and wandering and found one of the peppers on the ground with a tiny bite out of it, either chipmunk or squirrel I think. I felt pretty bad for the critter - but it never happened again.
Not me failing to read "out of my garden beds" and telling myself to mind my own business
Bahahaha thanks for the laugh
I read the first half and was pretty excited, not gonna lie.
Not the squssy 😩
That probably is one way to kill them or get them to quit coming back but I will stick with the pellet gun
Same
Landmines
Probably the only method that will work 100% of the time. But I imagine it also would leave quite a bombed-out garden lmao
I don't have many squirrels but my neighbor has spent shotgun shells on his front porch all the time.
I fear the squirrels have bribed both our cat and dog. I see both of them putting some act when we are watching , but rest of the time allow the bloody squirrels to destroy our garden while they nap peacefully.
I feel your pain. I'm a vegetarian but when they start fucking with my flowers I will literally commit war crimes against the squirrel population.
It's not wrong to eat a squirrel who has wronged you. Ya know who said that? Alpert freaking Eisenstein, and you could say that he knew a thing or two...
Cyannne pepper. Squirrels do not like it, so I sprinkle it generously over the soil... they learn pretty quickly to stay away.
LOL, I tried this as recommended to train one of my dogs to not eat poop - would run out and sprinkle all the poop. She just came in smelling like a poop taco. Not a deterrent for her!
Huh - this doesn't have any other impact on bugs or plants or anything? Almost feels too easy
This is the only thing that has worked for me. Never harmed my plants, and I've been doing it for a couple years. Only thing that sucks is you have to re-apply it regularly, especially after rain. I've been buying the large restaurant supply size jugs.
When we tried this they just treated it like seasoning. Though the initial reactions were hilarious... but they still came back
I tried that and red pepper flakes. Squirrels are still messing with my plants. I think I'm going to try the rubber snake and pet hair ideas! (5 furkids so i have tons of fur handy) I have tons of black snakes always passing thru, and still tons of Squirrels. A person in the neighborhood had a large bird they keep outdoors. They don't secure its food. I see Squirrels running around with cracker packs, have pulled weeds and they end up being peanut plants. I think the free food is why my neighborhood is overrun with Squirrels.
motion activated sprinklers...they hate water being sprayed at them. I got them out of my garden by turning on the sprinklers when they were in there
I can't. I have resorted to not replacing plants they dig up or eat.
My dog mostly keeps them out of the yard, but then again she eats my strawberries just as they start to ripen . . .
I poke sticks in the ground sticking up a few inches in and around seed beds and seedlings, or lay blackberry vines on the ground. It seems the sticks are annoying and they dig elswhere, and don't seem to like thorns. Cats avoid the areas too.
I've never heard this one before. Interesting!
And then there's me over here wondering if these tips work on rats 💀
Catch and crucify one of their own, they will get the message
You could get a chunky Rottweiler to lay around your house and yard all day.
My neighbor feeds squirrels but doesn't have any gardens, so they dig up our gardens right after we plant... Costs us hundreds of dollars a year, probably over a thousand since we moved in. Because our neighbor rescues the squirrels we keep getting more and more, way too many for our small neighborhood. Plus one attacked our 75 lb dog and cut her head open, which was a couple hundred dollar vet bill (aggressive squirrels suck).
Not sure where you are, but maybe talk to your local government office? There may be ordinances to limit that sort of thing. You know, keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for domestic, you know, within city limits. That sort of thing.
I'd have to side with you on the pellet gun. I'm all for animal rights and ethical treatment, but they can become a real problem. My biggest issue is fleas. Once a nuisance animal population gets out of control it's time to start decimating.
Yeah, I might be resorting to the same.
I'd have to side with you on the pellet gun. I'm all for animal rights and ethical treatment, but they can become a real problem. My biggest issue is fleas. Once a nuisance animal population gets out of control it's time to start decimating.
Their life is more important than your garden.
Physical barrier - wire, sides and top.
That's so expensive 😔 one of the many reasons I've been hoping to avoid turning my garden into Fort Knox
I have had good success with sprinkling cat-piss soaked kitty litter around my garden.
These gymnasts are the bane of many a gardener's existence. I love animals, but when I bonked one on the head with an ice cube out of sheer frustration, I was happy. He ran off to attack my garden another day, but he will remember me!
I bought a Costco size of cayenne pepper and sprinkle that shit all around my plants, squirrels HATE it. Deters a lot of other animals too
Yeah.... We tried that at work last week to keep them off the bird feeder. Little fucks just decided to lick the powder up as well.
Also, murder
.17 hmr. Slow smoke them with a dry rub or make a stew with fresh vegetables
I use this stuff called uncle Ian’s. It’s a small animal repellent. The squirrels leave my plants alone after I apply it. I believe it’s cayenne pepper based and squirrels hate that. You can buy a 5 lb bag at places like Home Depot.
I just let the rat snake live under my porch and it works out pretty well!
I don’t think you should be fucking squirrels to begin with but love is love I guess
Are you sure its squirrels and not skunks or other animals?
I actually am not sure, I had just assumed since I see squirrels digging pointless holes in other places in the yard. It does always happen after dark / before I'm out to the garden in the morning, so a nocturnal animal makes some sense, but I guess I didn't realize raccoons would dig holes like that, esp with trash cans nearby. I honestly didn't know that skunks dug for their food that deep either.
I just have a container garden and I’ve finally started making chicken wire cages with mosquito netting tops for my pots because those little bastards eat EVERYTHING!!! They ate my poblano pepper plant to the stalk TWICE and they even started eating and ripping up my pineapples! Forget my poor succulents, they didn’t stand a chance, RIP.
Gamo .17 air gun
I think that you ment out of "my fucking garden beds!"
A rattle snake. should keep everything out. If you prefer, a rubber one could work for a while.
Start trapping them and releasing far away.. Its not permanent but you can put a dent in a local population. Suet cake bird feed wire the cage shut so squirrels cant get it. It'll draw smaller birds which will draw raptors. It helps I swear..
Stop FUCKING SQUIRRELS and maybe they will stop coming back for more. Also prob the wrong sub for your specific fetish.
fatsquirrelhate
I have a haveaheart trap for squirrels. Capture one and release it ten miles distance from A to B, not road distance, in another neighborhood similar to mine that has a creek next to it. Rinse and repeat and eventually you'll have no squirrels.
Sit out on your porch with a beer and a pellet gun. No more squirrels, endless fun.
Haha thanks for asking the question for me. So far I've been told physical barriers are the best way like chicken wire
problem is you need to bury it 1 foot deep, then cover all 4 sides and the top; o-able but turns a nice garden into plant jail.
Give them a deterrent. Like a bird feeder. Or try the motion activated sprinklers. I’ve used them for deer and birds successfully
I literally had squirrels chew thru a layer of wood and metal to set up shop in my ceiling. They would then come out and dig up all my sunflower seeds during the day. I set up some traps and blocked the hole. sprinkled pepper flakes all around and put one of those fake owls by my flower bed.
Chicken Wire is the only thing that has worked for me
Capsicum worked for me, but it needs to be reapplied pretty frequently. I used cayenne pepper seeds from peppers my husband grew, super spicey from how fresh it was.
Buy a .22 and a lot of hollow points. If you don’t have dogs or cats, squirrel poison works pretty damn well, too.
“Plant” forks around your veggies
Dogs? Mine won’t let a squirrel in the yard. Birds are more of a problem for me.
I put a fake owl up on a post. Seems to be working. Watched a racoon on security camera last night take a double take and turn around and scamper off.
Nuke em😂
Home made bitter apple (90% isoproyl alcohol, 10% vinegar) or electric mesh.
I feel you mate, planted a lot of bulbs over the Easter weekend and the squirrels now think it's a good time to bury the pecan nuts from the tree in the front yard.
I fucking hate my local ground squirrel population and the only thing I can do is plant stuff they don't like to eat, or build enclosures for my raised beds. (low voltage) Electrified ones.
Have you tried putting a sign out that says “No squirrels, Please”?
I’m sorry, OP. I’m a first time gardener so I have no useful advice. I just had to say that your post almost caused coffee to shoot out my nose. I laughed way harder than appropriate at your choice of wording. 😂😂😂 Best of luck and keep us posted!!
It isn’t every day I settle in to reading all 3,546 comments to a post, and laughing hysterically….this is best of reddit time!
Live traps work pretty well. Just catch them and release very very far away from your area.
I’d say put up posters of Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day.
Blood meal seems to work for us
I'm trying netting
I’ll take squirrels. I have a trio of aggressive raccoons. I chased one off with my daughter’s plastic lawn mower that played Ariel’s “Under the Sea” this afternoon. He stopped several times and looked at me trying to decide if he should come back.
I must have the shittest squirrel around, he's either got so much food that he doesn't care or is starving because he forgets buried nuts everywhere. I have so many walnut trees growing in my beds that I have to pull one up at least once a day!
Honestly, feed them with a squirrel feeder (cheep corn). It works for me in Zone 7.
I used cinnamon, garlic and cayenne powder around the garden last summer and it seemed to stop them well.
The absolute worst is that they will take a single BITE out of my tomatoes and peppers and leave the rest in grass. Kills me!
Damn bastards were eating my lettuce and radish tops. I covered my beds with 1" domed chicken wire and sprinkled used coffee grounds I got for free from starbucks in all my beds. My logic behind these being that a domed wire cage will keep at least some of the plants out of reach and according to my quick Google search squirrels don't like strong smells so the coffee grounds are a free source of a strong smell that's garden safe. It's worked for me for the last few weeks and has saved the rest of my garden so far so maybe it'll help you. Gods speed friend.
I spread red pepper flakes all over. They don't like the capsaicin. But it only works for a few days I think. Also I have a rubber snake that worked well. I think fake owls work too? You gotta occasionally move the fake predators around though. Also unleash the dog sometimes.
Feed them in squirrel feeders, away from your gardens, with a mix of birdseed and shelled peanuts.
Put up pictures of Donald Trump, should kill their libido, or put an occupied sign up on the gate. Good luck with your battle they're crafty!
First step, stop fucking squirrels.
We live trapped 29 chipmunks last summee. My clay pot collection is trashed.
29! It would be super funny if it was actually just the same few chipmunks getting caught and released and recaught over and over 😂 They're cute and fast but kinda dumb.
"I did not have sexual relations with that squirrel"!!
Put Irish spring soap shavings around. I heard that may work. Not sure.
Huh. Never heard this but I'll look into it.
I thought that was to deter deer?
Get a plastic owl and put it up and that may run them off
Are they just in your garden when they're fucking? If so, I say let the ol boy get his nuts off
Dog and bb gun
Feed them. I have a truce with the squirrels. I feed them plenty of seeds and nuts in exchange for them not touching my garden. Idk if they understood the terms when I explained it to them, but me providing enough food around the trees they hang out in has been enough for them to stay away from my beds.
This method works with cats, deer, raccoons, dogs and squirrels:
Doesn't matter where they're at; you shouldn't be fucking squirrels period.
Get them a motel room instead….?
why did i read this as how do I keeping fucking squirrels IN my garden bed. weird kink but ok haha
Then just stop fuckin squirrels?
Pellet gun
Pellet rifle
Do you use a Condom?
The best solution is not always the prettiest or cheapest.
Mothballs and dynamite! Ohh no that's moles...sorry
They're annoying little bastards, that's for sure. Smart too. Our first year gardening we had this problem and nothing seemed to work. We finally bought a no kill trap. The first day we set it out, I came home to two very dead squirrels. They had given themselves tiny heart attacks and were clutching the bars with horrible expressions on their faces. While this was awful, we had no squirrels return to the garden for two seasons.
You're probably not dealing with squirrels, you're culprit is more likely to be raccoons. BUT a solution for both is putting up a bird feeder.
This is super interesting to me, mainly because this does seem to happen only at night which is why I wasn't 100% sure it was squirrels, but I also thought maybe they were doing it in the morning before I was awake.
Sounds like the safest place for a squirrel is in your garden bed
.22 LR
.22 caliber rifle
Scare them! Lmao. It actually worked for me. Every time I saw a squirrel near my beds I would scare them, and chase a little. If they stopped to look back i threw stones near them 😂 They didn’t like it but I think they actually learned to stay away and now they don’t come near the beds
Only squirrels that fuck? Or all squirrels. Or are you fucking the squirrels and you don't want to do that any longer?
The important questions
Gun
cats, dogs, rifle. I have seen people put chicken wire down over the beds, and let the plants grow through the wire. The animals can't get through the wire and the plants just grow through the holes. Downside is that if you have established plants, this would be very difficult to do.
All you need is some alcohol tobacco and fire arms
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Black pepper can deter them
A thin layer of cayenne pepper. They sniff while they dig, so they REALLY don't like digging if it smells like cayenne pepper.
I saw a suggestion somewhere to put a bird feeder at the edge of your property. The squirrels will be more interested in that than your garden
Gift a bird feeder to your nieghbors.
Please let me know when you find a solution. I have this issue with chipmunks lmao.
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We grew habaneros and jalapeños, and the squirrels and mice would just chew them off the vines before they were ripe, and would leave them untouched.
Chili flakes on the ground or sprayed on there, fox urine(preferably in pellets), strong mint oils, etc.
My cat seems to help even though he's a fat piece of crap who couldn't catch anything.
I sprinkle pepper, but that only sort of worked last year. So this year I've been throwing kitchen scraps on the hill behind my garden and that has kept them out! Bunnies too. If they're full I guess they don't bother to come attack my garden.
People get good results with a motion activated sprinkler!
They are rodents. Bromethelene(misspelled) bait box.
I've used mulch this year. They still dig the holes but don't tend to go as deep in the soil.
Motion sprinkler?
Garden hoops with 1/2 hole netting over the top. That’s how we do it
I've made little (about 8" diameter) cones out of chicken wire to protect any plants I particularly care about, once they get big enough to outgrow their cages it's not an issue
You can try setting up a feed for your pests away from your garden and see if that helps. Just an Idea. Never tried it but seems like both parties could be happy.
Maybe build them a nice little place outside the garden so they take their sexual encounters elsewhere?
Squirrels are the Internet trolls of nature
Irish spring soap, squirrels and deer hate the scent
Or out of my apple trees?
I stapled down some chicken wire