SQUIRREL REPELLENT HOW TO
SQUIRREL REPELLENT PROFESSIONAL

Make sure you have tight-fitting trash cans and never leave food or compost scraps sitting out. Try to avoid attracting squirrels to your property in the first place.If you notice your bird food disappearing rather quickly or piling up beneath your feeder, you may have a squirrel problem. Squirrels will not only attack your gardens, but your bird feeders as well.If conditions have been especially dry, they may also be digging to access the moist soil. Squirrels and chipmunks are known to look for insects or other goodies in containers, and may uproot plants in the process. If you’re growing flowers or vegetables in containers, you may also notice that someone’s been digging around in the container soil.Frustratingly, they often don’t even eat the entire thing! Often, squirrels will steal ripening fruits and vegetables to snack on, especially soft and juicy produce such as squash, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. Missing or damaged crops in the garden is also a key sign of squirrels.Squirrels love to dig up spring bulbs during their autumn foraging-both to eat the bulbs and to use the ready-made holes to store their foraged nuts. Spring bulbs snacked on? You’re probably dealing with squirrels, chipmunks, or groundhogs.

SQUIRREL REPELLENT HOW TO

How to Identify Squirrel Damage in the Garden Gardeners aren’t sure whether the squirrels do actively seek out the spring bulbs or not, but the problem of bulb snatching is real and widespread. The nose of these expert foragers is a tiny but powerful tool in the search for hidden nuts and berries.

Squirrels have a very keen sense of smell, which most gardeners blame for their bulb pilfering. The famous feature of the gray squirrel is its bushy tail, a luxurious puff of fur used for warmth, communication, and balance. Its vocal call is a rapid CRRK CRRK or QUACK QUACK, similar to a duck. Its body is 8 to 11 inches in length, and its tail measures 8 to 10 inches. Its color varies from gray, tan, or light brown to dark brown and black. Weighing an average of 16 to 24 ounces, the type of squirrel that is probably causing damage in your garden is the common gray squirrel. The average squirrel gathers acorns, pinecones, nuts, bark, fruit, berries, fungi, and insects, but is not above stealing bird eggs and bulbs. Sometimes they will even ruin your flowers just for the fun of it! Keep an eye out for these pesky visitors and try some of our tips below. How did the clever critters find those flower bulbs, anyway? Why do they ransack some borders and leave others alone? Gray squirrels stash food by burying it in a scattered fashion around their territory.Īlthough North America is home to several species of squirrels, it is the suburb-savvy gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, that gives gardeners (and people who feed birds) the most grief. They have a major instinct for hoarding food, which helps them to survive. They do not hibernate (although they may “lie low” during cold spells), so their underground pantries are vitally important winter warehouses.

Squirrels are especially active in late summer and autumn, when they stock up for winter. Though their foraging forays can happen at any time of year, a squirrel’s raid in late summer and early autumn can drive a gardener nuts.

SQUIRREL REPELLENT PROFESSIONAL

From Maine to Montana, these wily critters yank geraniums from window boxes, pluck nearly ripe tomatoes from their vines, and strip apple trees like professional pickers.

With a fondness for fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers, the common squirrel has long spelled trouble for home gardeners. So what’s a gardener to do? You can co-exist! Try these top tips for repelling squirrels naturally. Got squirrel problems in the yard, garden, and attic? Sure, they’re entertaining to watch and we’re fond of these furry critters, but if they keep stealing your tomatoes and your spring bulbs, it can be very frustrating.