Squirrels are digging holes in my vegetable beds. How can I get rid of these little beasts? I used to love them, now I HATE them. I am afraid they will destroy all my veggies and flowers.... Any ideas? Would an ultrasound device against rodents help?
You would have to screen or fence them out somehow. Wire netting laid on ground has been suggested for protecting bulbs. I've never tried it.
Thanks, somebody also suggested putting electrical wire. I just hope they won't be killed by electricity. I will try all the methods starting from chicken wire and ending with pellet guns :) until they are gone
New ones will probably come in as soon as there is a void created by trapping or shooting. You have them all around you, reproducing every year. I would put more faith in exclusion rather than extermination.
Wonder if they are the non native large black or gray ones { they are spreading right up the valley} that are displacing the little, generally harmless native red squirrels. Try not to let them nest in the house attic. Some will run along the wires, referred to as Norwegian house rats . Some friends have excluded the large ones with a good rat terrier.
invite a hawk into your yard, somehow? the hawks helped keep our population down for a bit, then the hawks disappeared and the squirrel population increased and they did some pretty awful damage to our trees. we resorted to trapping and relocating. this has helped so far, but i'm sure it is temporary. however, our hawk is back so maybe things will be more balanced. we also used a product called Thiram. It is labled for use on bulbs as a fungicide and repellant you can paint on tree trunks to deter squirrels. It was amazing how much it helped. It is in powder form so you would place the powder in a bag add your bulbs and coat them with the product.
Fences, netting, etc., are no match for squirrels. They will figure out how to get around it. It's kind of frustrating when you spend money and time setting up all that stuff, only to have it breached by like the second day. Trap and relocate every early Spring. You'll get those little devils out of there in no time. Usually it's the same 2 or 3 that do all the digging. After I relocate a few, I'm usually good for at least 9 months to a year. Sometimes longer.
I wonder if a resident cat or dog would discourage squirrels from setting up house in your garden. That could be a whole new problem though, I guess.
We live in a heavily treed community, and I have the same issues with the bushy-tailed rats. When I lived in Kent (south of Seattle, FAR less trees than where I live now) I relocated more than 30 squirrels over the course of just a couple of months. I painted their toenails so I would know if I was just relocating the same ones lol. I wasn't. However, PhillyPalms' point about it being just a certain 2 or 3 doing all the digging is probably true. Now that it's been mentioned, I realize that the holes are being dug mostly in the same places, and there seems to usually be a pair that I see scampering about together between my yard and the mean-neighbor's across the street. (My 4 year-old gave him that name, but I concur). I just may have to reinstitute the relocation program .. I know the child will enjoy it. By the way, the resident cat doesn't deter them much. Sadly, the cat actually caught one early on during his residency and got a badly sliced-up paw for it, which included a trip to the vet, shots, stitches, dressing changes blah blah blah. Now his hunting efforts are restricted to lizards & snakes, keeping the squirrels at a safe distance whilst treeing them. They just wait until he wanders off and they go back to tearing up the beds and making the mulched-over yard look like the surface of the moon.
Thanks for your replies! I was also recommended installing a special sprinkle system. It detects movement and sprays whatever is moving with a hissing sound! Not sure if it will work but I am willing to try. I am not sure I can just buy squirrel traps here, in Canada. :(
Try liquid fence. I've started using it this year for the same reason. It smells horrible for the first 1-2 hours, but is odorless once it dries. It's helped my garden a lot.
tried it too. problem is, in order for it to be sensitive enough to detect the squirrels movement, anything can set it off. if the wind blows and the leaves on the trees or plants moves, it goes off. we discontinued using it because our city was on strict watering restrictions and felt it was not effective enough to be spraying water more often at wind than when a squirrel was present. my 2 cents though.
jdelisle What is a liquid fence??? Dixie, I am very disappointed! I was already going to buy this sprinkle system. I am so desperate..
jdelisle thanks for the link. But which one shall I try? there is none for squirrels... shall I try the one for deer and rabbits?
Maybe you are looking into a better brand? The one I tried was called Scarecrow. The idea seems very practical if it would work the way it should. Maybe there are others out there that are better.
Pepper spray works pretty well for me down here in Virginia. Try something with capsicum--the same stuff as is in most conventional self-defense hand held sprays. Works pretty well for deer and rabbits, too, except on hostas.
My neighbours use a dog to good effect. My dog would wander if he's off the leash-he'd make a bee line for the horses across the creek. I use lead poisoning, but that's not for everybody. Your neighbours have to be well out of range. Carl
