Talkback: RSPB Homes for Wildlife

Hi, I have a serious problem with squirrels eating my bulbs I have tried covering with netting ect but as my garden is mostly containers it wasn't very successful. I read in a newspaper that they don't like chilli powder. so have sprinkled this every where, but with the rain last night it is all gone. Do I put more down, and will it affect the soil and plants in the long run? So far it has kept the squirrels away. Many thanks Bridget kennard

Reply to Bridget. We have too many squirrels. They try and dig into everything, but I think we have planted our tulip bulbs deep enough to be out of their scratching reach. When I offered some of our latest bulbs to a parent for the local school she was going to plant them in pots and cover them with chicken wire. She then suggested that she'd heard grated soap kept them away. Goodness knows what that will do to the soil when it rains... but may be worth a try. I can only think, like the chili, it disguises the scent of the bulbs so they cannot find them. Good luck.

Traditionally the eaves of my roof was a nesting site for starlings, then tragedy, a squirrel got in and left the young sprawled on the path below. Anyhow it was time to have the gutters plus wooden fascias and soffits replaced. On completion I purchased a Starling box, yet receive no tenants, partly because there are still a few houses in the road where they can get in. This year however I had a family so have put up two more boxes and plan to experiment by putting some nesting material in one of them to see if it is preferred?