Gardening Question

I love to garden, but I have an on-going problem with squirrels digging up plants, especially the young ones, and causing a lot of problems. In the past, I have tried using commercial repellants which do help, but I would really like to be able to avoid using these chemicals all the time. I am wondering if anyone knows of any safe and effective alternatives that would keep the ##%%%!!! squirrels out of the garden?

Lorie, Just looked up www.yoursecurity.us look under yard control. They have some contraption that uses batteries. $64.99 (dear???) The sound is supposed to deter them, but I don't know if it works. Other than that I wouldn't know, they are very clever creatures.

Have you ever thought about predator pee?

http://www.legupenterprises.com/

Ugh...please don't support the fur/urine industry... It's basically factory farming for fur and urine They confine animals in small wire cages, no veterinary care, no standards for humane killing, not inspected by the government...you've probably seen descriptions If you want pictures, let me know hehe. I wrote to one place that sold predator urine before, and they gave me a form letter that made it sound like the animals were treated well, but they evaded everything I said, and even parroted two blatant lies (including that the farms are controlled by federal and state agencies). Sure, the collection of urine is "safe," but being kept in a bare cage 24/7 is not!

There hopefully are some natural repellants out there. If paprika works on ants... I'll ask around!

EDIT: Oh, I found this, maybe it will help!

http://www.larimerhumane.org/wildkind/coexist.cfm

Check out the "Mammal Repellent Recipe" ^^

Will that repellent work on beavers? I have been having trouble with beavers where I work - a lot of my time is exhausted by cleaning out the culvert almost every day when I can be working on what needs to be done.

Hmmmm.....my dogs keep the squirrels away for the most part. When I had 2 greyhounds, I had no squirrels. They crossed, we went about a year without dogs and the squirrels have moved back in our yard. The puppies are now starting to tree them when they see them.

Don't buy the predator pee. In a pinch, sprinkle urine saturated litter around your plants.

There's a contraption you can buy called a "scarecrow" that uses a motion detector to sense intruders, and sprays them with water from your hose. Perhaps that would help?

http://www.birds2grow.com/prod-scarecrow.html

Here's something someone else posted!

Squirrel Control

1. To repel squirrels: Mix Naphthalene flakes, gypsum, and chile pepper. Spread around the problem areas.

2. Bulbs: soak them in Ropel before planting and squirrels will leave them alone. You can also dust them with medicated baby powder.

3. Put sheet metal collars on trees to keep them from climbing the trunks. Prune back any access limbs also.

4. To keep squirrels from the bird feeders in winter try growing witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. It can be grown in the East and Midwest. They grow underneath trees and can continue blooming into December. The flowers form a seed pod that will eventually shoot out the seeds on the ground which supplies squirrels with some winter forage.
5. Sprinkle pepper or paprika around squirrel prone areas.

6. Using any type of "sticky barrier" can be effective as the squirrels' hate the sticky feeling on their paws.

7. For pole type bird feeders: grease the pole with petroleum jelly. They will get the message pretty quick and go elsewhere for goodies.

8. Learn to get along with them. We have squirrels who do get into the bird feeders but in general cause no trouble at all! In 15 years they have dug up some bulbs one time and that is it!

9. Plant Fritillaria imperialis bulbs in the area of plants that you want to protect. Supposedly they have a particular smell that squirrels and chipmunks find repulsive. They are certainly beautiful plants and a great addition to your garden!

10. Beware that water features will attract squirrels and chipmunks too!

11. To keep squirrels and chipmunks from bulb plants- soak them in Alum water before planting.

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Hope that helps.