Squirrels Are SMART… But This How You Can Finally Stop Them.

Comments · 273

• DO

  @DouglasBeaton-j3y · 4 months ago

  Castor oil and peppermint oil. A couple tbsp each to 1 gallon of water, and spray. It repels all rodents, deer, skunks, racoons, etc.. As a professional gardener I've been using this for years with success.

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• RA

  @RachaelMarie27 · 6 months ago

  I thought squirrels were adorable af forever until I started my garden!!!! 😂 Looking for tips to get these little jerks out of here

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• NI

  @nikelaloca8037 · 1 year ago

  Hi. I'm a freelance squirrel rehabber, and long time gardener. Heck of a mix huh? My solution is cage the garden with a wooden frame, and hardware cloth new plantings. Second, I use cinnamon, and crushed red pepper flakes sprinkled liberally and reapply after heavy rains. Squirrels are smart. They learn your garden taste funny, and find better spots. I get tons of cinnamon and red pepper flakes from the dollar store, so it's not a huge expense.😊

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• CL

  @cloverblossom9801 · 7 months ago

  I was finding peanuts in my pots, my Californian garden and was blaming it on squirrels until one day I saw one of those big blue birds with the peanut in its beak trying to hide it in one of my pots.

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• MA

  @mam564 · 4 months ago (edited)

  I live in southern California, very close to UCSB open space. I have squirrels, racoons, opossums, rats, etc., invading my yard on a daily/nightly basis. I ended up buying large 4 ft. tall 1/4" hardware cloth (galvanized steel cloth) on Amazon and cutting it across to a 2 ft height. On my aluminum raised bed, I keep the squirrels out by laying the cut edge, on the soil, encircling the entire bed, and holding it up with garden stakes and zip ties. It is the only thing that has worked so far to keep the animals out. Last year I grew Japanese cucumbers in large pots. The squirrels would try climb the hardware cloth. This year I'm preventing them from seeing my cucumbers, by hiding them, with cut up sections of shade cloth. It's a never ending battle! I'm now looking into getting rid of them with the baking soda, cornbread mix and syrup solution.

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• DE

  @deborahwilliams349 · 1 year ago

  I have squirrels in my yard that go after the fruit trees and my container plants. They stripped my pear tree last year just before the pears got ripe. I only got 5 very small pears. This year they discovered the blossoms on the pear tree and ate those except one the very tip of small limbs. Now they are stripping those few immature pears off. They found my plums last year but I was able to pick what they hadn’t destroyed and let them ripen in the house. This year they found the plums early and stripped the limbs. They don’t even like the plums as they will nibble a little bit and then leave the partially eaten plums discarded. They also like to dig in my containers on my deck. A couple of things I used last year helped. I stuck wooden skewers around in the pots. They didn’t like to get near the skewers. I have used plastic forks stuck in the soil with the shape tines facing up. Also have roughly crushed eggshells and scattered them on the surface of the soil. They don’t like the feel of them so they need to have rough edges and not be finely crushed. Last year I noticed they avoided the deck when I used my fabric covered black water hose. It shrinks back up when the water is turned off. I figured they thought it was a snake. I saved hot peppers from an abundant harvest last summer and plan to use them to make a spray. Also planted them around the deck where squirrels might visit. They avoid them. I live in a large wooded area in the country. The squirrels have hundreds of acres available besides my yard so I don’t feel bad about driving them out of the yard.

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• MA

  @markcarter4504 · 4 months ago

  I use rubber snakes to discourage squirrels. If you move them around, they work great.

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• CB

  @cbrisalchemist6887 · 4 months ago

  I use dollar tree wire waste bins (look like wire top hat 🎩 but not) upside down, held down by landscape ties. I also use tulle draped and gel down with said landscape ties or small rocks. I also have a peanut station for the resident squirrel that lives in neighboring huge pine tree. I put them under pruned branches so they have to work for them. Then there is my certified mouse terrier, who keeps the squirrel up the tree…and my corgi who invites the squirrel over for tea.

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• PJ

  @pjmurphy920 · 1 year ago

  Grandparents of one of my friends, had squirrels get into their attic, biting on the wiring, unbeknownst to them, and it actually caused a fire that burned down their house. This was in the 1960s so it could have been the old tube wiring but still...grrrrr...squirrels. I despise them. One was chewing on the vinyl on the back of my house recently, where a hole is for the dryer.

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• TH

  @the0prynce · 4 months ago

  I'm a big fan of motion activated sprinklers. Squirrels dig up my garden sometimes, but my biggest complaint is when they take my tomatoes and stone fruit. The sprinklers are designed to keep mammals away from gardens. They approach, and then they are met with an oscillating spray that also makes a clicking noise. Most mammals don't appreciate a cold blast of water to the face and it does a great job of deterring them.

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• HE

  @heika5589 · 4 months ago (edited)

  If I had garden beds like yours, I'd use ladder mesh arches, then cover with tulle or netting.  I only have individual pots for my vegetables, so I'm putting in bamboo stakes, then wrapping tulle around the things that the critters like, fasten with clothespins on the bamboo poles.  Seems most critters either don't like the feel of tulle or are afraid of getting caught in it and stay away.  If pollination is needed, might have to open up the tulle during the day..  Or get parthenocarpic varieties that supposedly don't need pollination.

• CI

  @ciscoterres717 · 4 months ago

  An old lady on the next block has squirrel feeders she keeps full. Thats why we have dozen of squirrels all the time here. They destroyed my canteloupe garden last year.

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