I moved down to this nice little area and I had to dig up all my plants but I finally escaped issues with rats and birds eating all my peppers. Now there’s squirrels ripping apart my grow bags for whatever reason so that’s great, I really don’t wanna put up chicken wire or anything ugly on this small deck. Are there any other solutions?
by NeilEvi1
32 Comments
They like gnawing on plastic. Ate through a leaf blower that we left out.
Spray the area with peppermint oil maybe?
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Send in the raptors & coyotes
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You could maybe put a ring of wire mesh around the pot or spray with hot pepper/ capsaicin?
Mmmm yummy microplastic
Squirrels eat my garbage cans and my patio furniture. Maybe get one of those things that makes a noise that they don’t like? I’ve also heard of Irish spring soap helping.
I keep seeing posts about deranged squirrels on here, I basically live in a forest with tons of squirrels, and they pretty much just live off the land and don’t touch my garden beyond burying peanuts in it (Dad likes to feed them). I wonder if there’s just not enough food for them in the area or places for them to stash it in the autumn, there’s not much ground cover.
umarex notos carbine they never stop, no protection will work
They’re stealing it for nesting material. Try a product called Liquid Fence or something similar with putrified egg solids in it. The smell is pretty gross to humans for a day or so, but lingers for a few weeks for rodents and deer, and they won’t touch it.
Can ya make em spicy?
There are natural critter deterrents out there filled with peppermint, cinnamon, cloves, and other smell good things that animals hate.
The squirrels hang out all over our yucca tree out front, sometimes they even startle me as I’m walking up my front steps. They like to steal seeds out of the little garden patch up there, very annoying. But the backyard is neighborhood cat territory (and our dogs come in and out throughout the day) so the squirrels stay away from there, we are lucky.
We buy those big half gallon size of cayenne powder and just sprinkle it on everything, reapply after rain. My suggestion is wear a mask while doing the sprinkling.
I’d say paint the outside of the bags with hot sauce, but the vinegar and salt wouldn’t be great for the plants. Maybe make a paste of the cayenne powder and some water and paint the containers with it? I find putting the powder into a spray bottle just clogs up the nozzle.
Go to a feed store and buy a small bottle of Fox Urine. Place a small bottle cap in the planter and put some urine in it. Foxes are Squirrels apex predator and they will avoid the area. I use this in my attic and works like a charm. JUST DO NOT OPEN BOTTLE AND TAKE A WIFF. It will simultaneously take your breath away and make you gag. Been there, done that, learn from my mistake.
Alternative opinion: I think they might be digging for grubs or other bugs.
Also fuck the people killing squirrels over tomatoes. This ain’t commercial farming, chill out. Gardening should respect urban ecology.
r/fatsquirrelhatred
amazon has some squirrel traps available. I choose the big ones that are less “live traps” than most people like.
It’s like a mouse trap, just….more heavy duty. Instant finish.
Could you switch to ceramic planters?
Buy some hardware cloth and wrap the grow bag.
Looks like a good time for squirrel stew to me
Had rabbits doing the same with mine. Found out they were using it for nesting material when I camer upon a rabbit nest with shreds of my growbags in it. Bastards lol
This Is Easy af. FIRSTLY .. They Getting Nesting material And Farming your pots.. USE A Chicken Wire Sheet about A foot Out 6″-12″ usa bout 25cm-30cm out from sides of Pot In one big tower. Tall like the Tomato Trellis round the Pots.. This way they cant reach.. Also MAKE sure it cant Fit AnyThing Bigger than a Peanut.. Lill arms wont reach and Lill teeth won’t chomp.
Ither Side is WATCH OUT for birds and Bugs
.22 or live trap with a one way trip to squirrel heaven.
THE FIRST THING YOU DO: Shake your fist and yell.. Create dominance. Of Domain.. It’s your patio Bad Squirless NO
I’d wrap them in chicken wire maybe. I really enjoyed grow bags at first, but their water retention is terrible. Also if the animals don’t get to them, they will naturally rot away. My plastic pots don’t have issues like that.
Just an idea: put capcasin roll-on on the sides of the bags, you can get it at Walgreens or CVS. Use gloves when applying or handling the bags. Squirrels won’t like the taste or heat, it stings.
Myself, if I feed them they left my stuff alone
Every post here makes me happy we dont have squirrels and deer in this country. (Well, we do,but squirrels live on the godamn florest and deer, the real big ones are 1 meter tall and also live in their goddamn biomes)
Pretty cool that squirrels figured out, “ahh yeaa that’s the stuff, this will do, super warm shit”
If you don’t want to build a complete cage around that deck, you could try installing 3 or 4 motion activated sprinklers to drive them away.
Nothing a pellet gun can’t solve