Squirrels eat the bird food in the bird feeders , steal theraspberries , eat the edible corn , slip the tomatoes , and dig upflower bulbsrelentlessly . There ’s nothing like finding freshly planted tulip bulbs ripped out of the garden seam , lay on the mulch with one bite bring out of each one . If they ’re function to go to the problem of digging the bulbs out , why not at least eat the whole affair !
One only learns about squirrels after being kill by them time and time again . Unfortunately , my wife wo n’t let me fool them , so I ’ve had to try out with “ softer ” method .
9 tips to keep squirrels out of your garden
1. Bird netting
Place boo netting over berry shrub . This may deter the squirrels or they may chew right through it . Depends on how determined they are .
2. Trap them
Trap the squirrel with Havahart trap or a similar humane trap . For come-on , use a mixture of peanut butter , raw burgoo , and honey . Then release them far away from your property . However , where there ’s one squirrel , there ’s usually many more .
3. Don’t feed the squirrels
Do n’t provender squirrel by hand , as that will only make them braver in your garden beds and your neighbour ’ .
4. Scare them away with motion-activated sprinklers
Motion - activated sprinklers give sundry results – they ’re a hindrance at first , but once the squirrels realize they ’re in no danger , the sprinklers may lose their effectiveness .
5. Ultrasonic motion detectors
supersonic motion detectorswork jolly well . Squirrels seem to absolutely detest the high pitch and flashing lights .
6. Train them away with animal repellent
I do give my garden beds a big souse of adeer and rabbit repellent like Liquid Fence , which my squirrels just hate . I apply it to the layer for a few weeks until the squirrels are take aim forth from the area and seek their meal elsewhere . habituate the Liquid Fence in freshly planted veggie and fruit beds as well , but back off as you near harvest , as the smell may pollute the produce .
7. Protect flower bulbs from squirrels
There ’s nothing more frustrating than consider your fresh planted garden layer full of hole from where squirrels dug up the flower bulbs you plant the day before . There are a dyad of method I use to protect my efflorescence bulbs in the fall . The first is to plant the bulbs at the proper depth – as deep as potential . The general formula of thumb is to plant the bulb at a profundity three times its upright diam , and if in doubt , slip on the deep side of planting . At the soil ’s Earth’s surface , locate a power system of ironware cloth over each bulb . When the squirrel hit the conducting wire he ’ll ( in theory ) stop digging and move on . The blossom stalk will grow through the hardware material .
8. Offer a food source far away from your vegetables
You should n’t feed squirrels by hand , but you could draw squirrels with something irresistible to an orbit far away from your garden ( even if it ’s just on the other side of a small yard ) . I constitute sunflower on the opposite side of my attribute from my veggie and yield bed . This exploit surprisingly well and makes sense , as squirrels love helianthus seeds ( look into your bird feeder ) . But as helianthus do n’t develop seed until mid or late season , you also have to find an early - season deterrent like bag of corn .
9. Buy a dog or cat
The hairsbreadth from click and cats is reported to be a deterrent , but my squirrel are so used to the odour that it does n’t seem to phase them . On the other hand , some breeds of computed tomography are carry squirrel killers and I ’ve visualise … well , I ’ll spare you the grim detail .
But I ’ve watch squirrels positively torment my dog Belle to no end – one of them literally made a flying leap mighty out of her jaw as she was about to bite down while chase after the rodent at in high spirits speed . The squirrel made his agency up the brick wall to the chimney , where it sat and continue to bedevil my poor hot dog . She walk away crying . squirrel are evil beasts .
