The squirrels are killing my yard. 2 issues. My neighbors have fruit trees and the rats and squirrels grab all the fruit. They then run it and store it in my back yard (red filled in circle) the squirrels constantly running down the fence and leave 1000s of rotting fruit in the yard. Then they dig up all my bulbs. I’ve tried spraying peppermint on the fence and in the beds and also putting eggs shells down. Any other suggestions? We also don’t want the rats
by Fuzzy_TelevisionDC
16 Comments
A few options, here:
Trap them
Eat them
Get a dog
Surround your entire house in an impenetrable force field
Suck it up and deal
So you got free compost but lose your bulbs. I’ll take that
A dozen cats should do it
Peppermint oil does nothing. Eggshells do nothing. Choices are essentially trapping them or having something that will try to eat them (and hope another neighbor didn’t put out poison)
Lol any time something calls for peppermint, garlic, cayenne pepper, cloves, etc. it’s either:
1) a recipe OR
2) bullshit
Thousands? Looks like 4 fruit trees. Maybe you are overreacting?
Adopt feral cats.
My county has a feral cat program, spayed neutered chipped whole deal. I adopted one and it changed our life. We have 280 acres of crop directly behind us and 80 acres in the front. The cat acts as our security guard from mice, rats, will even confront squirrels ground hogs etc. Eats the mice all day everyday, kills the rats by breaking their necks leaves them on our doormat. I love this cat, we bought it a an insulated house that has a thermostat that turns the heat on and off. We give her food, she prefers mice. She’s even taken down a couple of rabbits. We had a massive rat snake population around our farm and we always wondered why it was so crazy. They were here for the mice too, cat handles them all and now we see minimal snakes. She’s never been inside and I give her dewormer 1-2x year per my vets recommendation.
Traps and/or BB guns.
You definitely need a cat or 2
Bulbs? Bury them, then bury two layers of chicken wire above them (not in contact, above). Flowers will grow through the gaps little paws can’t dig through.
Rats? Control the food supply. Since you can’t, add food, on traps. Bucket traps are awesome; you may be able to kill some with an airgun or low calibers, if they’re on your property. Dogs can deter them and the squirrels.
You could also synergize by getting into bee keeping. Bees and wasps love fruit trees.
Get some chickens and/or a pig. They will eat every calorie in your yard and leave nothing for the rats and squirrels.
Time to go Carl Spackler on em.
Add a worm bin and a cat or terrier. You can shovel all that rotten fruit into a bin, throw leaves, kitchen scraps, old potting soil, coffee grounds, cardboard, and shredded paper in there. Add air holes and worms. You will get the best fertilizer ever and will make use of a lot of debris that homesteads produce.
A terrier will hunt the rats and squirrels. So will a cat. Budget for spay/neuter, winterized outdoor shelter, pet liscence, vaccines, and flea, tick, and worm prevention. You could have cat mint in pots along the fence. Any cat in a mile radius will protect those plants.
Are your neighbors just letting the fruit fall on the ground? If so maybe offer to process it and share the juice, sauce, jam etc or list it on a foraging app and have someone who will use it get to it before the squirrels do
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