My love for squirrels is being tested. I have one (out of eight) who really seem to try to make an impact. Smaller transgressions started last fall... digging out hanging pots, digging up shallots, biting tomatoes, etc. During winter, it was hammering the beat up ice plants I rescued, digging up crocus/hyacinth/anemone/etc. Now...the top mix dahlias I have been watching all the way to budding, su flower shoots, glads, and... the Lucifer Crocosmia. Arghhh!!! Rather than dig them up, they are mowing down the plants.

I have been using coffee grounds to keep them out of the dirt. This works temporarily...need to reapply. I put up a hopper-type squirrel feeder with shelled peanuts where they can feed themselves all day. Also, have recently started using ground cinnamon in some pots.

Look, I do like the squirrels...and want to find a way to live with them. But, I am getting a little frustrated. Anyone know of other ways to protect the plants? We have red-shouldered hawks, Cooper's hawks, and red-tailed hawks. I hate to say it, but it might not be a bad thing for the lone offender to become a meal.

And don't even get me started on feral house cats...after weeks of fence mending, a few have decided climbing over the privacy fence is a good expense of effort to get a chance at my doves.

Hi @UrbanWild
I have numerous grey and red squirrels that hang around all day eating peanuts and the sunflower seeds that fall out of my bird feeders, and they've never touched any of my garden plants. I don't fork-over my flowerbeds, so the surface of the soil is quite hard and does not encourage excavation. When I plant in containers, I top the soil with gravel as an excavation deterrent. Usually, squirrels only dig where it's easy, and mostly they are looking for nuts or seeds that they previously buried. Have you actually witnessed the damage being done to your plants, or could another critter be the culprit?

Yes...I frequently see it in progress. I can tell my individual squirrels. They all look slightly different.I think I have the digging under control. But with the above ground damage, I'm at a loss. I worked the garden until lunch then went out today. I came back to a severed swamp hibiscus. Sigh. I may try a garlic and soap spray.

Urban Wild, my grandfather taught me to use hot pepper, and it is the most effective thing I use. I have four grey squirrels and one black, and once the greys (the black is always on his own and has never given any trouble) learned they couldn't get into my bird feeder, they've behaved -- I haven't lost anything, and I put in a lot of annuals because they arrived all at once and so far, so good. They don't even come on my upper deck where all the herbs are.

Small Have-A-Hart trap baited with peanut butter. Large tub of water to fit trap. End of problem.

I don't say that lightly. In my experience, there are only a few "Evil Squirrels" that learn bad habits like that. You get rid of a few until you get the ones that are causing the damage.

I don't like it either, but you rid the world of a few and get the offending ones and the rest are fine to have around.

I get along much better with the tons of squirrels that live/hang out in my yard when I keep a dish of water on the ground. I think some, maybe even most, of the chewing is thirst-related.

We've had squirrels here forever. The worst thing they did was raiding seed feeders and shredding a few wooden suet plug feeders. We solved that by broadcasting our birdseed on the ground to make it available to everyone. They dig a few holes in the garden, burying or digging up walnuts and acorns, but that's no serious damage. They get a steady supply of water from the birdbath. The squirrels, birds, rabbits, and groundhogs all exist peacefully in our yard.

I'm pretty much seeing two male squirrels so far this summer. One larger one and a smaller one missing part of his tail. I have no idea where the females are. For a long time I had a female around I called "Notch Ear" because something had taken a bite out of her ear. We need rain and the teasing predictions lately with 40% or 50% chance...it's getting on my nerves, because we're getting 0 precipitation!

Hello guys and girls :)

I am writing an article on how to keep squirrels in check. I have gathered tricks and tips from different sources and found this one here " I get along much better with the tons of squirrels that live/hang out in my yard when I keep a dish of water on the ground. I think some, maybe even most, of the chewing is thirst-related. " I would like to add that if anyone else could give some information on that :)

You can see what I got till now on the blog of 247PestControl.Co.UK

If you have a trick that is not mentioned, I will be glad to share it and give you proper credit :)

Cheers

Here is a link to the piece for faster access: https://www.247pestcontrol.co.... Suggest edits

I wish I knew the tricks. I keep water in 2 spots on the ground, one roughly 2 feet above, another roughly 4 feet, and two at about the 8 foot mark. There is plenty of food. Not sure what else is possible

Linda, impressed with your vision! I don't think I've been close enough to a squirrel to determine its' gender.

Hi & welcome, Amber! What I meant by my comment is that squirrels can bite into various parts of plants to "drink" the liquids in them.

I think it's all about attitude and realistic expectations vs. insistence on perfection. One can't control everything outside, and occasionally the critters that live there will have some input. Squirrels are the most prolific gardeners on the planet. Entering into an adversarial relationship with them can only to lead to disappointment. I guess one way to keep them away could be to get rid of the nearby trees but I hope I never have to live in a house without a lot of shade during summer.

Gardening around deer or rabbits - now THERE's a serious challenge!

We have no deer but lots of rabbits. I guess we've trained them well since they do very minimal damage in the garden. They do love the broadleaf plantain ( http://www.ediblewildfood.com/... ) that grows wild in the yard.

I live in Florida where I think there are as many squirrels as there are people and cars! I've had to learn to just live with them because nothing I've tried seems to deter them. They constantly raid the birdfeeders, it doesn't matter if I add hot pepper flakes to the seed or not. They also eat the suet in the suet feeders, even the hot peppery type that squirrels are not supposed to like! I have three birdbaths in the yard and one shallow water bowl on the ground but I rarely see a squirrel at a water station. Whenever I take the dogs out into the backyard, the squirrels usually hie tail it up into the trees and sit there chattering away until we go back inside.


The hickory trees have a lot of fruit at this time of year and the squirrels are lazing about along branches, eating the Hickory nuts. I was outside with the dogs a few minutes ago and had my camera with me. I heard the distinct (and rather loud noise) of squirrels chewing away on those hard nuts and spotted at least four squirrels in different trees enjoying their dinner; here's one lazy guy or gal, stretched out along a branch, munching away on a hickory nut:


I do enjoy the squirrels antics, especially the youngsters when they chase each other up, down and around, from one tree to another! The photos below are from last year; there were 4 or 5 babies chasing each other down one tree and across the backyard, where they'd run up another. When I went out with my camera, they scattered every which way but these two stopped at the base of one of the trees and then as I got closer, they ran up and paused in the crook of the tree, peeking out:

I had a problem with squirrels as well. They were burying peanuts all over my garden and then the peanuts would just get moldy and rot. They don't ever seem to come back and retrieve them once they bury them. I stopped putting out the whole peanuts (with shells) then they started eating my roses and the hips. They are cute, but they were definitely becoming a problem.
I solved the problem by building a feeding/nesting box for them. As yet, they haven't nested in it, but I fill it up with a wild critter feed mix purchased at a feed store. The mix does have whole peanuts with the shells in I,t but very few. I pick those out. The rest of the mix is cracked corn, sunflower seeds, etc.
This has worked like a charm so far, and there is no more evidence of their digging.

We broadcast mixed bird seed, no peanuts, on the ground for the bird and squirrels. Our squirrels bury walnuts and pecans in the garden but do minimal damage. We don't discourage them.

Most of the time it's only peanuts for those squirrels, with the birdseed for anything that eats it.

We tried the mixed birdseed in hanging feeders but the squirrels dumped it on the ground. I built some suet plug feeders but they cleaned those up in a matter of a few minutes. Now just broadcast seed and everyone gets an equal chance at it. No peanuts here.

It doesn't seem to matter here whether there are peanuts in shell, out of shell, none at all, corn, birdseed, etc. They bury all of it... Even the stuff that is small. The problem is that it makes it difficult to plant vegetable beds as they get dog up before the plants can get established. At times even established plants are dug up. Additionally, efforts to give them plenty so they don't dig up crocus failed. Diversity of food bribes or quantity of foods did not seem to matter either

Out of curiosity, do you have gray or red squirrels. Ours are gray but my experience with red squirrels is that they are very destructive.

We only have Gray Squirrels here in Florida and they don't seem to be destructive, other than once in awhile burying peanuts that are still in the shells. I now only add a handful of shelled nuts to the seed mix. I enjoy watching the squirrels running around and playing but don't get me started Armadillos! As cute as the little ones are, they drive me crazy with the holes they dig all over the property as they're searching for insects and grubs! They are mostly nocturnal but we sometimes see them during the daytime. Armadillo's have poor eyesight and when approached will suddenly jump and scurry off into the brush.