Help!!! Evil Squirrel!

[Rhona]

I'm sooo upset. We've been plagued by squirrels for years but thought we'd beaten them (darling husband learned how to trap them). This morning about five of my lovely pots have been destroyed - my garden is so tiny that it constitutes almost a third of everything! Sweetpeas, broad beans, sweetcorn, all doing fine now ruined, Some beautiful poppies were just showing their little heads and now totally gone - I'm so sad! I know I can start other things off, but please console me and also give me tips on beating the Evil Squirrels!!!

[HeyWayne]

please give me tips on beating the Evil Squirrels!!!

Some kind of club or bat should do the trick. If you really want effectiveness bang some nails into a wooden baseball bat. Then practise your swing.

Then again, a golf club would be easier to get a good swing close to the ground (squirrel level).

Sorry to hear of your devastation, squirrels are cunning devils it would appear, not sure how you ever completely keep them away.

[Nicos]

The only thing which I have found to deter squirrels off the bird seed is to spray with chillied water every 2-3 days.
The birds don't even notice it's on their food.

Not sure what this would do to your veg though????

Sorry to hear your news....upwards and onwards eh??

[lottie dolly]

sorry to hear what the grey monsters have done to your garden,we have them,
2/3 years ago we cut down some leylandi,and discovered a dray had been built,this we only found out after the felling,since then there is not so many,the little rats used to walk along the fence nibbling of the young rose shoots,the cheeky devils are so tame i swear they stare you out before the flit of,they also like the birds,fat balls,and nuts,so have to keep them in a metal cage as they chew the plastic to get the nuts and balls out.

[littlewin]

oh bad luck, I would be gutted too if that happened to me !

[kittyk]

I feed my squirrels with monkey nuts and so far this seems to have deterred them from attacking my newly sprouting veg....... they perhaps dug once in the potato pots but it was possibly one of the foxes who go crazy for new compost!

Try feeding them?

[Rhona]

Thanks guys. I just suggested the monkey nut thing to my DH but he thought the squizzes may just dig up the garden trying to bury them?!

[quark1]

Apparently this is the best way to attract them to a trap.

"The manufacturer suggests that the best bait is peanut butter, nutty chocolate spread or dry cat food."

from the following article

Captured squirrels live to nibble again - Times Online

Apparently there has been a change to the legislation regarding the release under licence. But I think most people who catch them release on the quiet or destroy - I can only hope humanely. The bag and hammer method sounds revolting.

[Alice]

Hello Rhona. I know what you mean about the squirrels. I had them in my last garden. Bloody pests ! You have some choices here. You can shoot them to keep them under control or if that doesn't sit with you can trap them. Several kinds of traps are available. Some just kill them. Or you can catch them and release them elsewhere. Depends how you feel about them.
They are just rats with fancy tails !
Fortunately, I had a lot of ground and they were just nuisances on the bird feeders - so I didn't have to do anything. But if they had been eating my produce - well .... who knows ......

[Norm]

darling husband learned how to trap them beating

They tast very much like Rabbit, so if you can't keep them off your plants, eat 'em.

[sunflower]

This may be just a coincidence, but has sort of worked in deterring the squirrels from our back garden. Last year at a village fete I bought a large ornamental chicken made out of willow. Now this thing has black beady eyes and I started to hang it up on my apple tree branches which is near my back gate. At first, the squirrels kept knocking it down, but after securing it...no more squirrels. It is the beady eyes they cannot stand. I think any large animal or bird shape with staring eyes might do the trick. It's worth a try.

[Nicos]

Apparently it is illegal to release them in a different location!

Illegal Grey Squirrel Release

Gardener facing prosecution - for releasing squirrels into the wood | Mail Online


Didn't you used to be able to claim 10/- per tail years ago?????????

[BarleySugar]

I think the tail thing was on foxes, if you took the tail to the local police station they paid you for it. I'm sure I remember my Dad used to do it. Can you imagine rolling up to the police station (if you can find one) theses days and handing over tails!

[bazzaboy]

Rhona, very sorry to hear of your distress. I can only tell you a funny story about squirrels to console you... I get them and they always crop the hazel nut tree weeks before I even realise they're ready.... But last year they left me loads, I was very grateful and gathered 'em all up - only to discover when I cracked them that they'd only left me the EMPTY ones! Damn clever clogs! More seriously, it's worth Googling "discouraging squirrels" for a range of ideas - there doesn't seem to be one solution but adopting several might help. Seems you have to get into the psychology of squirrels... if you kill or relocate them others will fill the space so basically you have to discourage them. e.g. how do they access your garden? Make that route a bit uncomfortable or scarey. They're sensitive to smells (but so are humans and you don't want to make it so unpleasant that you don't want to go in their either!) - various suggestions include peppermint, moth balls, commercially available lion poo, dried blood (! - not yours! perhaps blood/fish/bone would work? - better than blood sweat and tears anyway). Discourage neighbours from supplying any whole foods such as peanuts coz they're the ones they bury. If having your own pet cat or dog is impractical inviting a pal with dog and parking the dog in the garden while you have a cup of coffee will impart a few scents that squirrels won't fancy (partic if a lurcher I suspect, my old lurcher used to think they were rabbits and could never work out how some rabbits were so good at climbing trees, seemed like cheating to her...). So the key words are a) DISCOURAGE so they prefer elsewhere and b) ENJOY the battle of wits - and you'll get back to winning. bb.