Outsmarting the squirrels

[Starlight]

My critters big and small, walking crawling or flying are spoiled. When their natural food and water supplies get low, I will give them supplemental food and make little watering holes for them even though it breeds more sketters that bite me.

One such critter is this guy. Sorry pic is so dark. He is right in middle of pic. This is no ordinary squirrel. He hangs out in the front Hickory tree by me . He learned on his own along time ago that when food gets scarce , when I am sitting on porch, to come and stand on bottom steps and sit up pretty and cross his paws like he praying and will stay in that position until I go inside and bring him out some food. He just so cute looking like that, that I can't resist his plea. He even has me trained to serve his dinner between the hours of 5pm and 7pm. From year to year he has not forgotten this trick and it works everytime.

He's already eaten about 60 pounds of whole pecan nuts and now I am feeding him the crushed ones out of my freezer in a dish. Sure didn't take him long to get over his fear of the dish and start chowing down.

Things have been going good between us until he has discovered the tomatoes. The tomatoes are a no..no... at least til near the end of season, than they can have some.

I have cheesecloth surrounding the plants and it hasn't stopped him. He knows where the poles are, how to climb them and even how to sneak in under the cheesecloth .

I found him yesterday evening, sitting up on a pallet next to the tomatoes munching away. He would look at me, munch some more and keep an eye of me. He's not afraid of me. Knows I won't hurt him. Chasing after him would do no good as he would probably just offer me back a half eaten squirrel slobbered tomato.

I know that pepper spray will keep them off, but this guy been a buddy for many years. He can be a real pain, but he brings joy to watch too. Squirrels don't have that long of a life span anyways and I will miss him when his time comes, so I really don't want to set his mouth and insides on fire. I know I don't like, nor think it funny when somebody gives me a pepper that tells me is sweet and really it is hot.

I'm looking for maybe some other way to stop him or some product that won't hurt the plants or him. Fencing has not stopped him. He will tippy toe on the top of it and crawl up the sides and if that doesn't work he will dig a spot to get in.

[Worth1]

Critter.r.jpg

[b54red]

It won't be long until he spreads the word among his many friends about the free salad bar with great tomatoes and then you will be getting almost no fruit. I had that happen to me. Thinking live and let live would work with furry tailed rats. They will completely demolish your garden once they take an interest in it. I went for 25 years and never had a problem until I did and when I did it went from bad to worse. Finally after trying a lot of things to scare them away with no success I tried trapping them with no success. Finally I resorted to my sons pellet rifle and success. They start back every year or two and I have to remind a few of them permanently that the garden is a no no.

Bill

[Worth1]

You cant out smart a squirrel they only thing that will stop them is solid steel.
And then they just might find a cutting torch and use it.

Years ago there was a program on PBS about a lady in Great Briton that came up with everything imaginable to keep them out of her bird feeders.
Then it became a game to see how smart they were.

She put a feeder on a pole in the middle of the yard.
The only way the squirrel could get to it was a trolly.
The squirrel would grab the rope and pull the trolly to it.
Then the thing would ride in the little basket to the bird food pulling itself along.
Another one they helped each other to get to the food.
One would hold the food door open while the other one ate and then they would take turns.

The things ate into a plastic container that I had bird seed in.
I have stopped feeding the birds and they are all over at my neighbor ladies house eating away along with the rats and mice.

Worth

[ChrisK]

+1

Originally Posted by b54red

It won't be long until he spreads the word among his many friends about the free salad bar with great tomatoes and then you will be getting almost no fruit. I had that happen to me. Thinking live and let live would work with furry tailed rats. They will completely demolish your garden once they take an interest in it.

Bill

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Attachment 49994

Thanks for making the pic better.

Originally Posted by b54red

It won't be long until he spreads the word among his many friends about the free salad bar with great tomatoes and then you will be getting almost no fruit. I had that happen to me. Thinking live and let live would work with furry tailed rats. They will completely demolish your garden once they take an interest in it. I went for 25 years and never had a problem until I did and when I did it went from bad to worse. Finally after trying a lot of things to scare them away with no success I tried trapping them with no success. Finally I resorted to my sons pellet rifle and success. They start back every year or two and I have to remind a few of them permanently that the garden is a no no.

Bill

That's what I am afraid of. I have at last count about 20 squirrels in the one area in the front around the plants. The others haven't found them yet. Generally they all will eat everything they can at my yard and other than the one above the rest move to the woods than across the street to eat. They will be coming back to my yard soon as the fruit, though green is on all the trees.

I had thought about maybe using a pellet gun and firing near them. I wondered if it would work.

I tried some of them rubber snakes. Bad thing is I forget they are there and scare the daylights out of myself. Now the fake rubber snakes are keeping the birds away.

Originally Posted by Worth1

You cant out smart a squirrel they only thing that will stop them is solid steel.
And then they just might find a cutting torch and use it.

Years ago there was a program on PBS about a lady in Great Briton that came up with everything imaginable to keep them out of her bird feeders.
Then it became a game to see how smart they were.

She put a feeder on a pole in the middle of the yard.
The only way the squirrel could get to it was a trolly.
The squirrel would grab the rope and pull the trolly to it.
Then the thing would ride in the little basket to the bird food pulling itself along.
Another one they helped each other to get to the food.
One would hold the food door open while the other one ate and then they would take turns.

The things ate into a plastic container that I had bird seed in.
I have stopped feeding the birds and they are all over at my neighbor ladies house eating away along with the rats and mice.

Worth

Ya they probably would try cutting it.

Cute story. Would have liked to have seen that program.

I only feed my birds in the winter time. They know what time of the morning I feed them. Seed is scattered on the ground and what doesn't get ate, which is usually only a missed seed or two is raked up. I learned the hard way about leaving food for them all day long. I started finding more tiny holes around the area where the food was. Don't know it from a mouse or one of my chipmunks, but I cut that practice out real quick.

I wish I knew if there was some sort of plant they didn't like. Lemongrass keeps most critters away, but not the squirrels.

[heirloomtomaguy]

I had ground squirls bad last year. The only thing that worked was trapping and killing. Its not ideal for some but i no longer have a squirl population. They multiply like rabbits.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

I had ground squirls bad last year. The only thing that worked was trapping and killing. Its not ideal for some but i no longer have a squirl population. They multiply like rabbits.

Your ground squirrel is known as the California ground Squirrel.
They were all over the place there when I was in the Marines we even had one as a pet this guy kept in his field jacket pocket.
The thing went with us everywhere, even to morning formation.
The Regimental commander walked up in front of him for inspection and the squirrel had his head sticking out of the guys pocket staring back.

I also saw one stand out in front of some people picnicking at the beach while they fed it.
While this was going on the rest stole all of their fried chicken behind their backs.

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Your ground squirrel is known as the California ground Squirrel.
They were all over the place there when I was in the Marines we even had one as a pet this guy kept in his field jacket pocket.
The thing went with us everywhere, even to morning formation.
The Regimental commander walked up in front of him for inspection and the squirrel had his head sticking out of the guys pocket staring back.

I also saw one stand out in front of some people picnicking at the beach while they fed it.
While this was going on the rest stole all of their fried chicken behind their backs.

Yeah these things are EVERYWHERE here. By the beach they are all but domesticated. They will eat food right out of your hand. Last year theu waged war with me. They ruined tomatoes, watermelons, corn, you name it they ruined it. That is until i wiped em out in my immediate area. I already see a couple dancing on the power lines this year so game on again.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by heirloomtomaguy

Yeah these things are EVERYWHERE here. By the beach they are all but domesticated. They will eat food right out of your hand. Last year theu waged war with me. They ruined tomatoes, watermelons, corn, you name it they ruined it. That is until i wiped em out in my immediate area. I already see a couple dancing on the power lines this year so game on again.

I also read in a book many years before the internet that they weren't fit to eat.
We used to go to Malibu and other beaches north to get away from the trashy crowd in Oceanside.(drug dealers, Marine hating cops ,bad Marines and con artists.)
(((In the 70's it wasn't good to be a Marine in California.))))
These beaches were swarming with them.
At that time we would go to beaches you had to pay money to get on.
This kept out the bad crowds and the people were friendly to us.

Everywhere we went there was those darn ground squirrels.

Worth

[bjbebs]

I've trapped 19 ground squirrels in the last two weeks, with no end in sight.
My one cat is not able to keep on top of the population without help.
I'm also forced to thin out the tree rats.
Deer, rabbits and the occasional ground hog also tear up the garden.
I don't mind sharing some produce, but if left unchecked there would be little left.
The natural balance between predator and prey is way out of wack.
Sometimes man has to intervene.

[ScottinAtlanta]

The only way I have found to defeat the squirrels is death. Theirs, not mine.

[Worth1]

I was at the store the other day.
The price of a USDA select piece of steak (I think rib-eye) was over $10.00 a pound.
For those that dont know USDA Select is the sorriest cut of meat they sell.

At these prices I will started eating my neighbor ladies fat pet squirrels.

Worth

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I also read in a book many years before the internet that they weren't fit to eat.
We used to go to Malibu and other beaches north to get away from the trashy crowd in Oceanside.(drug dealers, Marine hating cops ,bad Marines and con artists.)
(((In the 70's it wasn't good to be a Marine in California.))))
These beaches were swarming with them.
At that time we would go to beaches you had to pay money to get on.
This kept out the bad crowds and the people were friendly to us.

Everywhere we went there was those darn ground squirrels.

Worth

You're bringing back memories of my youth Worth. I'm guessing you were stationed at Pendleton (or El Toro) I used to frequent Malibu, Corona del Mar, and Newport. I remember Corona del Mar had a big feral cat population. Huntington Beach was the closest but was also the worst because of the druggies and freaks that thought they owned the beach. We once went down to Black's Beach (you know why ) and were quite disappointed. 200 salivating Marines and maybe 20 civilians that wouldn't dare do what they were there to do.

And while I haven't had it in 30 or 40 years, squirrel and rabbit are good eating.

[Starlight]

I am glad I don't have any of them ground squirrels. They sound like a regular pain in the rump, bad enough the ones I have.

What's bad is I am kinda between a rock and a hard place. I have too many, but I have to keep so many on the property to eat the nuts. You don't realize how many thousands of ankle busting nuts you have off of bunches of mature Hickory trees.

Next door has been eliminating a bunch from his property. He's so mad. They chewed the side of his roof and got into his attic. I told him when I wasn't around to see for him to take out a few at my place too. I told him I would clean and cook em if he did. Yes, they do taste like chicken. : )

Food is food and even I was shocked that the cheap hamburger was over 6 bucks a pound. Head of lettuce was $3.79 and a dozen eggs jumped to $3.79. Milk over $5 a half gallon. Time to start eating what can be foraged.