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Squirrels
What's up with the squirrels in my garden? Why can't they stick to the peanut feeders and keep off my lawn!
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Gardeners' World Web User
05/11/2007 at 22:07
Chicken wire on pots stops my bulbs being dug up - lawns no idea. Would love to sort the problem out!!!
Gardeners' World Web User
06/11/2007 at 02:10
They don't like chili powder. That's about all you can do really. It'll wash away every time it rains, but at least you can cover your tulips next spring. (yes, they eat tulip flowers too!)
Gardeners' World Web User
06/11/2007 at 14:31
To be honest I love squirrels - I have a special maize feeder for mine - they love it and leave everything else alone. I like to try to get on with nature instead of trying to deter it!
Gardeners' World Web User
06/11/2007 at 19:26
You are lucky! We don't have the furry nuisances here in Guernsey. Enjoy your squirrels!
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2007 at 15:59
i have the same problem with the squirrels. i spent two days digging up oak tree spalings. in the garden of the house we moved into in july. but there so much fun to watch what the hell i like them.
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2007 at 16:14
We live in the New Forest and our garden was a squirrels playground until we put up a squirrel feeder (which is like a bird box with a glass front and a lid) on our huge oak tree and we fill this up with peanuts and monkey nuts and they no longer attack the bird feeders or our garden.
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2007 at 16:46
I'll swap your squirrels for my badgers. I could plant potatoes in the furrows they leave on my lawn! You can have the three fallow deer also.
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2007 at 20:50
Having had problems with squirrels digging up my crocus bulbs and decapitating tulips I took the advice of my sister, who lives in Canada and the following year used liberal doses of Cayenne pepper which seemed to work. The local hardware shop had an expensive deterrent, the main ingredient was capsaicin, which is basically the same as Cayenne or Chilli pepper!
Gardeners' World Web User
08/11/2007 at 20:54
We have a wood on our boundary and the squirrels use our fence like a main highway. I've moved the bird feeder 3 times and they still find it and devour everything before the birds get a chance. So called squirrel cages around feeders also stop the blackbirds and woodpeckers that come in from feeding. I tried soap and watched them perch right on top of it. Like Adam says they come right up and look in the patio doors much to the consternation of our Springer Spaniel. I wonder if those who love them so much have ever had them in their loft!
Gardeners' World Web User
09/11/2007 at 21:36
I love having squirrels in my garden and after installing a squirrel feeder, we have great fun watching their antics from the kitchen window. But (there's always a but!) since spending several hours planting a large number of crocus bulbs under an oak tree this autumn only to find that 24hrs later not a bulb was left, they don't look quite so appealing. After reading other peoples comments I'm going to arm myself with chicken wire and cayenne pepper this weekend!
Gardeners' World Web User
10/11/2007 at 16:42
Squirrels took every apple off my daughter's (9 years old) newly planted apple tree this year, stripped my camellia buds and keep digging up my bulbs. They really are pests but so comical. Next year I'm getting a cage for my apple tree.
Gardeners' World Web User
11/11/2007 at 14:45
I had squirrels in my loft after the squirrel family had gone out up I went with my chilli powder and put it round all the roof vent my roof is now vacant they moved house I keep renewing the chilli powder as we dont want them back not even for a holiday.
Gardeners' World Web User
11/11/2007 at 16:45
We have recently built a raised border which I have planted with various bulbs and have covered this with pond netting in order to protect them! I must admit having a cat does also act as a deterrent.
Gardeners' World Web User
11/11/2007 at 23:27
I've even tried wiring up my bird feeders with strong wire - twisted with pliers and the squirrel has still got through it! I used to get all my bulbs dug up in my pots and as mentioned before - the squirrels just calmly sit on our patio and no amount of shouting or banging windows would budge them. Then I read somewhere that grated soap on top of the pots would deter them AND it works - I've seen them come up to the pots and sniff and run! Hurray!
Gardeners' World Web User
20/11/2007 at 20:48
My squirrels seem to be a little bewildered.they have been burying cotswold chippings every where. Pots and borders are bad enough but in the lawn they are a real menace. Do you think they would benefit from therapy?
Gardeners' World Web User
05/12/2007 at 16:48
We, at the moment, don't have any squirrels but I have seen one or two at the end of the village. I have had them in previous gardens and hate them!! I'm also very pro our little red squirrel and wish there was more we could do to change the balance.

I did shock a lady I knew by informing her of the dire consequences of catching them as she went to buy a trap in our local agricultural shop. It is illegal to release non native species into the wild under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the alternative is you have to kill them. Even the RSPCA cannot release them.

My defence at the moment is my little Jack Russell who chases them when she sees them on walks so they wouldn't stand a chance in the garden!!

Gardeners' World Web User
06/01/2008 at 00:00
You saw 3 squirrels on your lawn - we counted 7 last week! Two years running I thought it a good idea to plant pots of bulbs to place in gaps in the spring borders. Two years running the squirrels dug them up, ate them & planted peanuts in their place. This year I've got the pots in the greenhouse until they are ready to flower. Apparently its illegal to catch the squirrels and transport them to the woods. My lawn too is devastated by holes they've dug. Could be a shotgun if they keep on breeding like this!
Gardeners' World Web User
07/01/2008 at 13:37
We have a family of 5 who sprint around our garden every day, stealing entire seed feeders rather than just emptying them! Fat balls last about 5mins on the tree before they vanish!! They are extremely territorial, so must all be from the same family. I wonder if a fake squirrel would work, like the fake storks at the pond?

We also have a visiting rat this winter, quite fat and fluffy with a short tail. Oddly, he would only take pieces of bark from the play area and sneak them back to his hiding place! Totally ignored the peanuts in the tray!

When we had a dog in the past, we never saw rats or squirrels, as they could smell him I suppose. Perhaps if you own a dog, you could let him out every time he sees a squirrel so that they are chased away. They'll soon get the message. Also, I wonder if that cat-scat remedy of "lions droppings" would work for squirrels. I've no idea, but worth a try for fun!

Gardeners' World Web User
09/01/2008 at 00:21
the secret to dealing squirrels is first do not feed them since it just makes them lazy and well fed which just helps breed better thus increasing the population and causing more damage. Best thing to do with grey squirrel is to kill them at first sight and then eat them. If you used a none posionious method to do the deed.
Gardeners' World Web User
06/02/2008 at 10:39
Yep it was labour intensive but I made chicken wire cages for my bulbs. To do this I used chicken wire with small gaps. I made a tunnel and sewed the edges with garden wire. Popped the bulb and earth inside and bent the tops over, finishing off with a last bit of wire. I live in a forest, trust me, it works
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