squirrel digging up my bulbs!

[quark1]

When I emptied a flower bucket recently (spuds) I found a conker concealed just below the surface!

[Alice]

Giving them nuts won't stop them Jules - it will only make them bigger and bolder.
Hey Wayne suggestion is the best solution.
I had the pesky bandits in my last garden. They lived in a big ash tree. They were cute to watch - especially the babies - but they were pests at the bird feeders. Nothing stopped them. And they robbed into birds nests. A bit of a mixed blessing I would say.

[FoxHillGardener]

I can report variable success keeping them off if you coat the bulbs in chilli powder before you plant them. I got a bag of cheap stuff from one of those places with big drums of stuff that you buy by weight. Big plastic bag of chillli powder, add bulbs and shake about then plant them.

Chicken wire works ok on pots when you can bend it round the top, but in the ground they always get it off or dig alongside and wiggle under it however many tent pegs I've tried. Fleece over pots or on the ground doesn't work, they just tear through it

[Rocketron]

do we move there? or do we send them there?

Brilliant !

[Snadger]

I picture a squirrel digging for it's nuts in the tulip bed......."Now I know I burried the sodding things here somewhere.?"..................scrat,scratch.scratch.........."Ah here they are, cripes there's only one and it's huge!"..............."Ah well it'll have to do..........Mmmmmmm........not bad, wonder if there's any more?" I'll try scratching here........and scratch scratch scratch here..........and here.......Eeeeeeeeeeek...... that was a near miss...........some b*gg*rs taking potshots at me............I'm outa here"!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Flummery]

A powerful air rifle works extremely well . . .

As I am privileged to have Red Squirrel visit our garden on a daily basis the only advice you will ever get from me regarding greys is trap & kill them, sorry

We fight a constant battle against greys in Cumbria and the north of England, this summer there have been loads of greys breeding in Whinlatter, only 5 miles from us. It is only a matter of time before they find their way here and sadly in my lifetime I expect to see the beautiful reds driven out of Cumbria and probably most of England.

Hey Bilbo - Nice to see you on here - eventually! (I enticed BilboWaggins onto the site. I claim my £5 - or did I dream that?) Finally got to see your squirrels this weekend - well, at least one of them! Welcome to the grapevine kiddo.

[Two_Sheds]

I saw something on the telly made me laugh (Autumn Watch?) - they'd filled a balloon with water and put it on the bird table. Squirrel investigates balloon, it explodes all over him and he scarpers ... brilliant.

[markinessex]

We used to have terrible problems with squirrels in our old house. Lots of oak trees at the back of the garden. And they loved digging up the bulbs. Chicken wire over the pots was the only answer.

Now we live on Mersea Island and there are no squirrels at all.

[Nicos]

A few years ago my MIL's squirrel didn't even wait for her to plant the bulbs.
She was just kneeling down digging out a hole for some crocus bulbs and the phone rang. She went into the house and whilst talking on the phone looked out of the window to see a squirrel carrying off the whole bag of bulbs!!!!!!

They appeared the following year as a cluster of flowers in her neighbour's garden!!

[Snadger]

A few years ago my MIL's squirrel didn't even wait for her to plant the bulbs.
She was just kneeling down digging out a hole for some crocus bulbs and the phone rang. She went into the house and whilst talking on the phone looked out of the window to see a squirrel carrying off the whole bag of bulbs!!!!!!

They appeared the following year as a cluster of flowers in her neighbour's garden!!

Well, bulbs are supposed to be planted randomly in drifts aren't they?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Finally got to see your squirrels this weekend - well, at least one of them! Welcome to the grapevine kiddo.

Thought that's where you'd snuck off to, Flum! Bet Bilbo got you stacking logs!

Sorry - squirrels - cute to look at, but they bury conkers from the tree in all my pots, and one cheeky beggar nicked one of only two ripe plums I had on the tree this year.

At least they don't eat the cherrys off the tree. The blackbirds have those.

[aud]

Well i must admit i will be rather annoyed if they dig up my 1000 bulbs that i have planted this year.