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Old November 3, 2016   #1
b54red
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Default squirrels, squirrels and more squirrels

The squirrel population has more than exploded again this year and they are devastating my garden once again. If they aren't eating my vegetables they are digging up my raised beds like an army of tiny excavators.

I am working as hard as I can to remove them from this world but they are still increasing in numbers faster than I can decrease them. My fall and winter plants are ready to go out into the garden but the plants that I already set out are now chewed down to stumps. I guess I will have to invest in a large bag of blood meal because it does deter them but has to be sprinkled around and on the plants after every watering or rain and the stuff is expensive. It is the only thing I have found that deters them. My eight dogs and the neighborhood cats don't seem to bother them at all. I think they just wait in the trees and watch for the dogs to take a nap and then go to work chowing down on Bill's Buffet.

Last year I was unable to grow a single Brussels sprout because they ate them before I even got them set out in the garden. I had placed the trays of Brussels sprouts on a table in the middle of the yard to harden off before planting them and the next morning I looked out to see a half dozen squirrels happily munching away at them. I'm hoping for better results this year but it is looking grim because I am running out of time. The plants are ready to go out right now but there is no way I am feeding the little furry tailed rats my hard work.

I'm just a bit frustrated and needed to vent. I know the only solution is to thin them down mercilessly. From looking at the huge number of nests in the surrounding trees it looks like I have a huge job ahead of me. The one big oak near my garden has around a dozen nests in it and all the other trees seem to have at least three apiece in them and there are a lot of trees around here.

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Old November 3, 2016   #2
PhilaGardener
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It sounds like a real problem. I have some squirrel issues but not like that.
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Old November 3, 2016   #3
PaulF
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Sounds like they need to be thinned out a bit. Here they are allowed to collect acorns from our two 100 year old oak trees but the bird feeders and gardens are off limits. A few well placed .22 shots discourage the offending tree rats.
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Old November 3, 2016   #4
dmforcier
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Stop feeding the dogs.
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Old November 3, 2016   #5
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All I can see is a constant supply of meat.

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Old November 3, 2016   #6
GrowingCoastal
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On this island we are just starting to see black and grey squirrels. They are not native to the area and may displace our indigenous ones that are only half the size and strictly forest dwellers. One story has it that some researcher imported some to experiment with and some got away. Every year I see more on my walks though none in my yard yet.

One gardening friend thinks nothing of it, the more the merrier. Soon enough she will know why they are undesirable. I have noticed one old greenhouse type structure covered in wire mesh . That looks to be the way of the future, now, against squirrels though the wire cage was meant to keep deer at bay. An expensive investment but better than losing everything.
Seems a hopeless problem for a farmer but at least shooting is possible on a farm. What other methods of control are there? Do they go for poison bait the way rats do?
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Old November 3, 2016   #7
Worth1
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Originally Posted by GrowingCoastal View Post
On this island we are just starting to see black and grey squirrels. They are not native to the area and may displace our indigenous ones that are only half the size and strictly forest dwellers. One story has it that some researcher imported some to experiment with and some got away. Every year I see more on my walks though none in my yard yet.

One gardening friend thinks nothing of it, the more the merrier. Soon enough she will know why they are undesirable. I have noticed one old greenhouse type structure covered in wire mesh . That looks to be the way of the future, now, against squirrels though the wire cage was meant to keep deer at bay. An expensive investment but better than losing everything.
Seems a hopeless problem for a farmer but at least shooting is possible on a farm. What other methods of control are there? Do they go for poison bait the way rats do?

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Old November 3, 2016   #8
Rajun Gardener
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I have the same problem and they get into everything. Now is a bad time for them due to winter coming and they just keep gardening in the garden and containers. By gardening I mean burying pecans and acorns for winter but they tear up the plants in the process and they've been braking eggplants off the plants along with some of the branches. They've also been ripping the insulation off of the hose bibs at the garden to make nest with.

My neighbor/Uncle used to keep them in check by trapping with a box trap using peanut butter as bait but he quit because he can't give them away fast enough and the freezer is full. I guess I'll thin them out over winter and make a few gumbos.
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Old November 3, 2016   #9
dmforcier
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Quote:
What other methods of control are there? Do they go for poison bait the way rats do?
Yeah, as per the Cajun, I was just about to type that squirrels LOVE peanut butter and it would make a good base for poison, as well as a trap bait. You could mix rat poison in.
Trouble is, other things love PB too, even birds, and you risk collateral damage.
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Old November 3, 2016   #10
Cole_Robbie
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Plastic netting is cheap. So is pvc conduit. If you are only using it to support netting, you could get away with a much less sturdy structure than what would be required to support greenhouse plastic. I have bought "wildlife netting" fencing at Menard's. It was I think $25 for 7' x 100'. It could be stitched together, I am guessing, and used to enclose a garden.
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Old November 3, 2016   #11
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Last year, the squirrels got just about every tomato I grew. It's heartbreaking to watch a tomato develop only to find it on the ground with gnawed holes in it.

I determined that it was worth it to trap them. So I started last winter. I used peanut butter, peanut butter mixed with oats, peanut butter in a dish in the trap, etc. The squirrels learn fast but they do get trapped. I enlarged my garden and had many wonderful tomatoes with no losses!

Before the last big storm, I found a hole that they chewed in the base of my chimney. I was doubly glad I thinned the herd.

Just this week I saw the first squirrel in my garden. Getting the traps back out . . . .
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Old November 3, 2016   #12
Worth1
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To each his own as always but I am dead set against poison of any kind.
In my opinion it is one of the most inhumane things a person can do to kill an animal.

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Old November 3, 2016   #13
dfollett
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dmforcier View Post
Yeah, as per the Cajun, I was just about to type that squirrels LOVE peanut butter and it would make a good base for poison, as well as a trap bait. You could mix rat poison in.
Trouble is, other things love PB too, even birds, and you risk collateral damage.
This "feeder" along with the suggestion above may help. It protects pets, birds and other "non target" critters. They also sell squirrel bait, but apparently they can only ship it to seven states.

https://www.amazon.com/Wilco-Ground-...WNC8EGE9FC50F0
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Old November 4, 2016   #14
b54red
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I have tried just about every bait there is including peanut butter but after one squirrel is caught it is like he sends out a signal to all the others and they usually won't fall for it again. These are city slicker squirrels. My neighbor used traps for 3 years and only got two squirrels using every bait he could think of. I still can't believe they wouldn't fall for the shelled pecans and peanuts. They won't touch rat poison even when it is placed in the trees near their favorite perches. I used to think rats were worse but at least you could thin them out quickly with poison and I don't care how inhumane it is. At this point I would water board them before poisoning them. Rats are disgusting, disease carrying vermin and city squirrels are getting almost as bad living and breeding in peoples attics and outbuildings.

I actually had them chew right through the asphalt shingles on my roof about 6 years ago in two different places to get into my attic. They nearly caused one of my neighbors houses to catch fire from chewing on the wiring running through her attic. I now have a metal roof and hardware cloth protecting all my attic vents and had most of the lower limbs on all my trees trimmed off to limit their access to my house. My next door neighbor just gave up and had all his trees removed because of the aggravation they constantly were causing them. They keep chewing through our cable lines causing loss of tv and internet until a line can be replaced. They have actually become a plague in this part of town and the city linemen and cable people hate them because of how many lines they destroy yet the city government won't allow them to kill squirrels. They are so cute.

I never cared if critters took a bit of my gardening bounty but a few years ago they got too plentiful and have been taking their share and a lot of mine and sometimes all of mine.

Bill
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Old November 4, 2016   #15
Worth1
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Bill it sounds horrible and even if I am against poison and think it is inhuman doesn't mean I wouldn't do it as a last resort.
It just needs to be kept away from friendly critters.
But as you said they wise up, squirrels and rats are smart.

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