I put my cactus outdoors on our patio in the summer. We live in a semi-rural area in Ohio and have alot of wildlife, especially squirrels. The squirrels come on the patio and dig in my cactus pots, uprooting them and some times eating them. I have gravel around most of them, to no avail. Is there something I can sprinkle in the pots to deter them?

Try peppermint oil, squirrels don't like the smell. If they're clay pots, you could put the drops on the clay and that should hold the scent longer. Redo it after it rains if needed.

I've also read that squirrels hate the scent of human hair, I've pinned some of that to the soil and it's worked too. But I have to remember to start saving what I pull out of my hairbrush to do that.

To keep squirrels out of bird feeders I mix red chili flakes with the bird seed, and sometimes coat branches holding the feeders with chili pepper or chili flakes sprinkled on Vaseline. It works for me! (Uh-oh Now i'm picturing you spreading Vaseline on your cactus---wrong in so many ways!!)