Help defeating Squirrels (and or chipmunks!)

I live in the Northern New Jersey suburbs, and as a result, seeing wildlife in the back (and sometimes even front!) yard is not uncommon. We see everything here from deer and foxes to rabbits, but it seems like the most troublesome critters for me are either squirrels or chipmunks. We have a ton of chipmunks here that burrow in and out of the ground and rocks, but I can't say I've ever caught them redhanded pilfering stuff from the garden and deck boxes. Squirrels, on the other hand, have ravaged the swiss chard in my deck planters, as I caught one racing out of there a few weeks back with sprigs of chard in his cheeks. Worse have been the critter or critters swiping immature fruits and veggies out of my backyard garden. I am talking about 30 or 40 green (immature) cherry or grape tomatoes in the past week alone. They're also chewing newly formed eggplants (just centimeters in size!) down to the stem. I am thinking more squirrels than chipmunks, but to be fair, I can't say I've caught the varmint(s) redhanded with the veggies.

Now here's the troubling part: I've sprayed many of these baby tomatoes and eggplants with a product called Deer Off, which is a combination of putrescent egg solids, capsaicin and garlic. However, this has not deterred the guilty critters from feasting on these baby fruits/veggies. It has, however (as in years past) kept the deer from munching on my plant foliage and deforesting my backyard garden completely. I guess it would be worse if the pests were doing these just before I was ready to harvest, but it has been putting a severe crimp into my July production of tomatoes and eggplant (generally speaking, they've left the peppers alone -- no shock since some I've planted are hot and inherently contain high levels of capsaicin).

I've read on DG where many suggest to put the capsaicin/pepper related deterrent directly on the soil, and others have said peppermint oil to be an effective elixir. I don't want to resort to trapping or harming these critters, but I do want to eliminate their destructive forays into the garden. So I am asking for practical input from you fellow gardeners out there who have encountered similar experiences and found some effective means of curtailing or eliminating this pilfering! If you could be specific as to what you do, how to prepare it, where to buy it, etc... that would be most helpful.

Sorry for the longwindedness, and thanks in advance for your assistance!

-- joiseyfresh

sorry no one has taken the time to respond-probably because it's such a problem to deal with for everyone and i don't know if anyone has a solution. this is when you need a terrier in the garden! maybe ask around in wildlife forum or do some googling. i know there are products out there; just don't know their names.

Purchase one of those plastic owls (they even have one now that the head swivels). Fix it on a post of some sort in your garden where it's easily seen. Squirrels and chippies are deathly afraid of owls since they will make lunch of them. Try to move it around once a week so they don't get wise to the idea that it isn't real. These will also keep small birds from pecking holes in your almost ripe tomatoes.