SQUIRREL problems

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere, but I am very frustrated and looking for help. Twice in the last week squirrels have dug up EVERY PLUG of 4 flats of groundcover in my yard. After the first time I sprinkled what I thought was a lot of chili pepper over the plantings, but this afternoon they were all dug up again - in broad daylight. Anyone have any ideas how to defeat these guys??

KARE,
I would deal with them in the most lethal way possible, but then, thats just me.

Best;
bluelytes

I have squirrels or some similar kind of varmint, and I've had some good results using hot pepper wax.

I'm also trying Shake-Away, which I just got in the mail today, so I can't say how well that works yet.

blue,
you are just TOO much!!! LOL!!

Karen,
I had tried ALL the commercial deterrents and the home-made ones for squirrels,chipmunks and rabbits. Nothing really worked-except blood and/or bone meal in my garden for rabbits. But some folks say that attracts dogs so....

What I have found that works for me 100% of the time is dried cat poo. I know it can smell REALLY gross [but only for a day or two], but I can step around a bit of my own cat's poo to look at a lush, healthy, un-touched plant. In fact I did it just tonight- lol!

I know I'm prob gonna get ragged for the cat poo, but hey it works for me- lol! I have a steady ready supply, I'm not preggie, and I know what my cats eat- hee hee!

This message was edited Jul 12, 2006 10:13 PM

The way I see it, you have a couple of choices.
One of them is a Havahart trap baited with Peanuts and followed by relocation of the animal. As we joke around here, the Squirrels which make it once in a while on to my deck, are now quite acomplished Golfers.
I have bought a couple of books on the subjects to try to deal with these critters:
I have greased the heavy metal bars on which I hung my planters - have you ever seen a Squirrel running FAST along a bar and THEN plopping into a plant? I spiked my pots with raspberry canes, they got used to it.
Bird-netting works, they hate to get their little claws stuck in it. Most nurseries carry it around here to wrap a small fruit tree or to keep the leaves out of pools and it is cheap.
A couple of years ago, a Squirrel developed a taste for my large Jade, which I had always kept during the Summer in front of the house. I had to place stakes around the plant and wrap it that year with bird-netting. I still saw the Squirrel hanging on the netting trying to "stretch its teeth", but it gave up after a couple of tries.
Nowadays anything which is in my backyard and not in the ground is inside a 30 foot cage.

Tree rats .. the only good thing I can say about them is that they inspired me to become a crack marksman with a slingshot!

If you have bunches n bunches about the only thing you can do is get some chicken wire and cage your babies until they grow enough to get a good root system. If not too many, then rat poison works very well.

X

RUK,
Actually, she has more than a couple. You forgot MY method.

BERRY,
RAG, RAG, RAG re: cat poo, :P
And WHAT do you MEAN, TOO much?? MOI?? heheheh.

It depends on what KARE is growing?? You dont want to be using cat poo in, near, or around veggies or other edibles.

Best;
blue

Cat poo is toxic stuff .. not really a good idea.

X

Well blue, you should have read Karen's opener more carefully- she mentioned groundcover- so ha! And you ARE too much! DG aint quite big enough to hold you- lol!!


But yeah, blue is right. I don't advocate putting kitty poo on veggies- yuck!!


X,
hey it works for me! I don't use it on veggies and I'm not in the family way so I see no danger to me. I dont play with it or roll around in it nor do I touch it- lol! I really more or less sprinkle it on the ground around my plants and really dont use that much. Doesnt take a whole lot of predator poop to scare the rodents away- trust me! I dont use it on my entire garden or yard- just around a few vulnerable plants til they get big enough to withstand chipmunk excavation.

This message was edited Jul 12, 2006 10:45 PM

BERR,
Groundcover?? I dont get it?? How does that change how I suggested to deal with them?? Or am I just dense??

Best;
blue

I mentioned this before, but don't know if I saw an answer for the question. Does anyone know if fake owls work for squirrels? I have heard that they work on birds for a while, and if it would trick the squirrels long enough for the new plantings to get established (then they could be taken away to be used again another day), it might be worth a try.

We used to have maybe too many squirrels, but I think our owl population is up this year - I estimate at least 3 or 4 barred owls within hooting range of our house plus at least one great horned owl. Now even my open trayed bird feeders seem to only support maybe 2 or 3 running around the yard. I actually see chipmunks more often than squirrels. We also have a couple of rather noisy hawks in the neighborhood, so despite being "in the city limits" we don't seem to have a very squirrel-friendly atmosphere here any more - heh heh heh.

Would squirrels be more affected by an owl decoy (visual) or by a recording of hawk sounds (auditory)? (Though let me tell you, hawk sqawking in the morning isn't always a pretty sound - heh.)

I'm curious if owl decoys would work in case our squirrel population ever goes back up again.

I can't tell if my problem is chipmunks or voles -- or both . I've seen plenty of chipmunks; I've not see any voles but then again they keep a lower profile.

But I have a lot of tunneling under the part of my garden that is held up by a retaining wall, and under the stone steps going up that hill. I see holes the size of silver dollars -- sometimes a tiny little bit larger -- in the soil that are the openings of tunnels. How can I tell whether it is voles or chipmunks? Will dried blood keep both away? (Or cat poo?)

Sorry blue, our posts overlapped. ;-)
What it boils down to - is one able to outsmart a Squirrel. Either remove the animals or cage/cover your stuff.

Nightbloom, Hawks and even Owls? Oh, please tell them to fly North! I would love to be within hooting range.

We've had some luck putting chicken wire over new plantings, but it's a pain: you have to remove it before the plant gets too big or it's staying there for the season (or forever; you're in CA, right?)

Devonmiller, someone in Soil & Composting forum knows how to identify different diggers. You might want to ask there if no one here knows the difference.

NightBloom, I think the owl decoy would work for only a very short time, unless you move it around every few days. I've heard good things about a little machine that makes a mountain lion sound (I know, crazy) periodically. I think Peaceful Valley makes that.

Zeppy: Thanks! I'll go ahead and post in Soil & Composting to see if someone there knows the difference between vole and chipmunk holes. If anyone here knows, please do let me know!

I do the Havahart trap and relocate method..... late last summer I started it, and this spring/summer things have been better (I still trapped about 6 or 7). Dang varmints.....

Good luck

SANN,
Problem is, you "relocate", you just created a PROBLEM for SOMEONE ELSE, whereas, if you'd eliminate them AFTER the trapping, NO MORE PROBLEM for anyone.

RUK,
S'ok re: overlap. Not so easy to remove, and cage/cover is WAY more expensive than I want to deal with, so I just introduce them to Dr. Kevorkian (sp). But then, thats just me.

Best;
blue

Nobody listens to me but the best anti pest device is a Jack Russel terrier. If they don't catch them (which is rare) they drive them far away. Who wants to share a small apartment with Hitler?

Chicken wire and fruit tree netting is about all that works for me. I would agree that trapping and relocating is just sort of passing one's problem onto their neighbor. Consider this a tsk tsk tsk from me as I have no doubt I've been dumped on before. My neighbors who are home for the day claim they see cars pull back by us and drive slowely before stopping and then the doors open and they empty cages then take off fast. If you are going to relocate, try your best to finish up by August so they have a fighting chance of surviving in the area they are moved to. They'll need time to create new burrows and they'll need to re-stock their food supplies and find water or they will be die.

Poisoned squirrels could very well end up in the food chain. They're a favorite meal of the raptors and coyotes around here.

Chipmunk holes are about 2" in diameter. I could post about 1000 photos of them if anyone is interested. They generally burrow down pretty deep and if you ever excavate a chipmunk hole (yup, I did it once out of curiosity), you will find they have cavities where they store food and create nests.

Voles also create holes but they are somewhat smaller than those of a chipmunk and they are closer to the surface and they are generally more likely than a chipmunk top conceal the opening with grasses and sedges and such. They sort of tunnel. They tunnel above ground and below ground.

Here's the looper, moles and shrews also tunnel. Moles and shrews are pretty obvious because when they tunnel you can usually see evidence above ground just like on a cartoon. They leave an above ground trail. Both tunnel to create nesting areas but more so to find food so they leave overturned earth in their wake and little mounds of dirt everywhere. They do it in snow too which is pretty funny as you can always see where they've been and where they're going.

Hitler??? Steve, you actually named your dog Hitler? How could you do that to that cute little toilet bowl scrubber without a handle?

No I was referring to the squirrel's perspective of the jack russell. Like being trapped....
Her name is Maddie.

I suppose I shouldn't comment about names given we have one Great Dane named Twinkletoes.

You named a Great Dane Twinkletoes??? Now that is funny!!

Cats are very, very helpful with voles and chipmunks. J. Russells are of course, as well, but a cat won't dig the rodent out (with half the plants). Also, a cat won't need roughly 200 times more excercise than I'm able to give it every day.

Owner of a German Shepherd that loves all small furry and feathered things and is useless for rodent control,
Zeppy

every hole the Jack digs is soil ammendment and the ground squirrel is a gonner. No more holes everywhere in the garden. Many small ones or one big one. You are right about most Jack Russells needing more energy than anyone has to give but I have the old genetics of true Jack and they are fun and busy but not obsessive.
Twinkletoes Hmmmmm. Does she wear a too too?

No RUK, I didn't name him that. He came with the name. We once had a cat from a shelter named SFB. I finally asked what that meant and was told it meant crap for brains. I changed that name immediately. I think the people at shelters get slap happy when they name all the incoming animals. I've sure seen some bizarre names cropping up.

Here's a chippy hole. They are two or three times as big as a volehole. or mole hole

Zeppy, I don't think I could use the mountain lion recording around here. It might freak the neighbors. We do have cougars dropping into Denver from time to time, and sometimes they get pretty far east before they're trapped and hauled off.

WH, I think it's just a mountain lion's hiss. I know it would freak me out.

Sofer, I guess it was those overbred JRs I was referring to. The couple that live near me seem incapable of being at rest for any time. Make *me* jumpy.

You got it Zeppy they have ruined a great breed. My maddie is sleeping at my feet right now and quite happy. When I go out to the garden she joins me to wait for the varmit to appear then she gets active. No squirrels, ground squirrels, voles, mice, rats, or any stray snakes to anoy my garden.

Well, heck. I'd have a JR like that. I got my GSD from a German breeder b/c I didn't want any of the nervousness and instability I'd encountered in lots of GSDs around here: in a dog that size, the bite risk's so much greater. My boy's a furry rug unless it's time to do some work.

Karen, do you have a cat? Is that something you think might help you?

Okay, just a defensive mechanism kicking in here..... I don't relocate the squirrels anywhere near other folks. I live on 2-1/2 acres ~ maybe I've been a "dump-ee" because I've lived here for 10 years and last summer was the first that included squirrels. I take the squirrels to a natural wildlife area where there is natural food and water and no houses. I feel better than if I had killed them..... although gophers! That would be another story. Just kidding!!!

Sanna

It is always ok to kill only if you eat them. McDonalds is responsible for killing 32,000 cattle a day. And someone pays them to do it. we need to remember that.

Soferdig is on to something- I have taken to siccing my Collie on them when I see them digging up to plant those infernal acorns! They scram real fast- up the stupid oak tree!!!!
Also, on Sunday I bought the big tub of DeerScram, and used it all up around one flower bed-- nothing digging there so far (and on Saturday there was the beginnings of a rabbit warren in that bed). Of course, the critters have moved to other parts of the garden. Just wait until I buy more DeerScarm, and send the Collie out for good measure! Here's a picture of this fierce hunter, with his girl friend, the English Spring Spaniel. Then of course Blue may have a method that works too; I think I'm too nearsighted for great aim though ;>D


This message was edited Jul 18, 2006 8:00 PM

This message was edited Jul 18, 2006 8:01 PM

BBINN,
Was that a BLUE joke?? :P lol. Yes, of course I have another method, ;) Anyone interested, d-mail me for details, Muahahahahah

Best;
blue