Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So the battle between me and the squirrels goes on, and I think the squirrels are winning.

The problem with the big-tailed rodents is that they like to bury things and dig them up again. Problem is, with lentil-sized brains, they can't remember where they buried stuff .... so they just dig, everywhere. Especially in my potted herbs.

For some reason, they're particularly attracted to redwood mulch. Which is a problem since redwood mulch is the only thing which discourages the earwigs. So I can have rodents digging holes, or arthropods chewing holes. Some choice.

I bought a food-service sized jar of red pepper flakes and I spread them around. This discourages the squirrels for about 3 days or until the next rain, which is not enough.

We really need more cats in this neighborhood.

Until then, the war continues.

It seems like squirrels are universally hated. They are such destructive little pests. They get into everything here, and really nothing deters them.

Trinket,

It also goes to show you that ( persistence + no brains ) beats ( brains + laziness + scruples ).

I have trapped them for years, due to the damage they would do to my garden. Now, I just got a new possible weapon against them: a Rat Zapper. Too soon to tell you if it works well, but what made me buy it was a friend with one, who got a number of squirrels in it, while he was trying to trap rats, and the opening is plenty large for squirrels to enter. It is not a truly outdoor item - you have to put it under cover - probably due to the batteries being on the top. I have a plastic table on my deck, which is where I trap a lot of my varmints, so I'll just put it under there. I'll keep you updated.

Fuzzy, don't count on cats to help you with squirrels. The last few years we've had ferrel cats galore along with squirrels galore. Our neighborhood is full of oak trees and therefore, acorns by the millions. We've learned to live with them all. Don't know where the cats came from. Our dogs do more good for squirrels than cats ever did.

fitzie

My next door neighbor has trained the squirrels to feed out of her hand. It's like living next to a Disney character, and I should be playing the bad aunt.

I spread Cayenne Pepper, shave Irish Spring Soap (bulb digging prevention) and buy the occasional new chemical that's affordable. It's still a constant battle, and yes, they do seem to keep the upper hand. They must be in cohoots with the folks that create the stuff to deter them!

The former owners of our house liked to feed squirrels. One used to come up to the kitchen window, cling spread-eagled to the screen, and show me his nuts.

Some cats will hunt squirrels, but not many. Squirrels are just a little too big for the feline comfort zone. I've had probably a dozen cats in my lifetime, and only one of them hunted squirrels.

Squirrels are my biggest irritation, because I feed the birds, and the little bastards go after their seed. I have a $45
"squirrel proof" bird feeder which they have wrecked by hanging off the end of the feeder and ruining the springs. My occasionally cat-like Golden Retriever actually got one a few years ago, but the like every thing else, refused to let go of it. When they invaded the attic, we threw moth balls up there whic worked for a while.

We have live traps, and used to truck them up to the (cult) commune, but they always came back. We know this because we used to spray their tails with florescent paint.......

Squirrels run rampant in my neighborhood and one neighbor has taken to shooting a pellet gun at them (which means they come into my yard to escape). They love basil more then I do and I cannot seem to grow it because they keep eating it.
I had one cat that caught a squirrel (during the summer Olympics) and my other neighbor watched it all and gave my cat a gold medal. Generally, cats do not go after squirrels, which was why my neighbor was so amazed.
I have tried everything I have read to rid the yard of squirrels and nothing works which is why I think the fuzzyone is correct.
Ielne

Yard, heck-they can stay in my yard. I want them to stop living in my house! Short of putting up metal soffits under the eaves of our rather tall house, we have tried anything we have heard of to keep the buggers out, and yet I still hear them scampering about between the joists of a winter. And my Winston will hunt and kill squirrels. He usually leaves the half he doesn't want in the cellar, which I don't find until the flies hatch out.
Of course, I'm not trying to grow edible stuff in my yard.