They are furry, curious, and as entertaining as little clowns. But, let’s be honest. For the gardener, and bird enthusiast, squirrels can be a serious nuisance. Keeping squirrels from raiding bird feeders and destroying garden beds can be challenging. Below are some tips to take on that challenge – and win.
Keep Squirrels off Your Feeders
- Buy bird feeders that have a ‘baffle’. This is a metal or plastic cone that fits either above or below the feeder that keeps the critters beyond arm’s length. Make sure the baffle is loose so the squirrel is dislodged if he decided to jump for it.
- Buy special feeders designed to close the seed doorways when anything heavier than a bird sits on the perches.
- Remember to place feeders far away from overhanging tree branches that makes it east for squirrels. Try using shepherd’s hooks.
- Mix hot pepper in with the bird seed. Capsaicin, (the component in peppers that makes our mouth’s burn), is too hot for mammals to tolerate, but is completely tasteless to birds.
- Try switching bird seed. Squirrels love sunflowers, but ignore safflower.
- If you can’t beat them – feed them! Giving squirrels their own feeding station very often works. Set out the much-loved sunflower seed and dried corn cobs on special cob holders.
Banish Squirrels from Bulb Beds
- Try sprinkling hot pepper on the bulb plantings.
- Using a hand grater, grate soft onion on top of the bulbs.
- Some people claim to have luck with baby powder dusted around the bulbs. Squirrels don’t like the texture nor the smell.
- Plant bulbs under a ‘tough’ groundcover, such as Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum), Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) or Stonecrop (Sedum). Squirrels find it annoying, but bulbs will pop through without any problem.
- Introduce your dog. Encourage your dog to ‘mark his territory’ around the out side of a fenced garden.
- Make a “Wire Bed”. Cut a long piece of chicken wire and lay it in the trench before you plant the bulbs. Space the bulbs normally along the wire. Take both ends and fold over forming a tube over the bulbs. Cover with soil as usual.
If the squirrel population is overwhelming, humane (live) traps can be rented to remove the offensive neighbors. Once caged, the rodents can be released at least a mile away from the property to keep them from returning.
Please Note:
Wildlife rescue organizations and wildlife biologists request that any wildlife trapped be released in the same county it was trapped in. While not fool-proof, there is strong evidence that this practice has helped control disease as well as kept control of non-native species on some level.
With a little effort, harmony can be achieved between the squirrels and your little corner of the world.
Related Reading
Want to know more about squirrels? Check out Squirrel Facts.
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