Steps to keeping away squirrels

Squirrels can be found just about anywhere – country side, cities, tropical areas etc. This hyperactive set of creatures are always busy with something; they are either hopping from one tree to the other, gnawing away plants, or digging up bulbs of plants.

It’s true that watching squirrels get busy with their daily routines can sometimes be a sight to behold. However, this pastime can easily turn to an annoyance when squirrels starts eating way what they shouldn’t. Squirrels spend a great deal of their time searching and storing up food – breeding is the other thing they take interest in.

They are in the habit of making gardens and backyards their snack bar.

Squirrels don’t like being told to stop doing whatever they love doing. It only takes brute force to get them packing.

Whenever they visit a landscape or vegetable garden, they would dig multiple holes all in a bid to pick up tender plants from their roots. Not only that, they don’t mind feeding on properties and even stuffs that are completely indigestible – plastic is a good example.

Are you having troubles making your garden squirrel proof? Here is the good news; there are several ways of doing so. Below are some of them.

Eliminate whatever attracts them

Making your garden squirrel isn’t much of a hard task. It all begins with eliminating whatever serves as an attractant to them. Nuts, berries and every nice smelling fruit are typical examples. Rod your yard of even just half a nut, to begin with.

Additionally, always ensure that empty cans stored in your waste bin is properly sealed at all times. Doing this will help make your yard and garden less attractive to mosquitoes. Another simple but effective technique for deterring squirrels is by cutting down hanging tree branches surrounding your yard and garden.

The reason for this is that squirrels often times make tree branches their home, making it easy for them to easily gain access to gardens and yards.

Squirrel repellents

The quickest and probably the most effective way of squirrel-proofing your yard is by the use of repellent specially made for squirrels. These repellents can be easily purchased from a garden store or even from online retailers.

A proper observation of your kitchen will reveal that there are many repellents lying around unused. Cayenne pepper is a typical example. Squirrels are generally repulsed by the smell of spicy foods, including chili pepper and hot spices. The good thing about this natural repellent is that they are completely harmless to the invading critters and the plants in your garden. In place of spicy foods, you can use garlic and other bulbs like onions.

For maximum impact, add some jalapeno pepper to the garlic and then mix with water and vinegar. Stir till a watery solution of repellent is formed. Then empty in an empty, clean bottle and use. Frequent reapplication of this repellent is necessary because it easily gets washed off by the rain.

One other repellent you can consider using is peppermint. The scents emitted by peppermint repulses squirrels. To use, either have the peppermint plant grown in your garden or extract the oil, drop the extracted oil on balls of cotton and spread throughout your home. Commercial squirrel repellent like the squirrel mace is made using a solution of vinegar, garlic, peppermint and a host of other plants squirrels don’t like coming close to. Such repelling solution is not only effective against squirrels, but also raccoons and squirrel.

Mothballs, an ingredient actively used in killing off moth can at the same time be used as a repellent on squirrels.

Commercial Squirrel MACE squirrel repellent is an effective, all natural and bird safe repellent used by professional applicators.

Predator scents

The scent of predators send squirrels scampering for safety. This technique is completely harmless and pretty effective. You don’t really need a coyote or jaguar to get this done – a dog or cat will do.

Dogs and cats fancy any object that moves, including squirrels, and will do whatever possible to catch one. Squirrels usually mark areas guarded by dogs and cats as “no go areas”

But if you are not privileged to own a pet, using the urine of wild animals will be a better alternative. This type of squirrel repellent can be either purchased from an online retailer or from an animal store. Spraying your yard or garden with the urine of wild animals will make squirrels believe predator is hanging around, thereby making them steer clear off your yard. The only catch here is that the scent will have to be reapplied frequently especially during winter and after it rains.

If none of the tactics discussed so far works, you could try creating a diversion – lead the invasive critters somewhere else that promises them better food. To do this, get a squirrel feeder and fill it with sunflower seeds, nuts and every other food squirrels love. Then place the feeder somewhere a little bit far from your yard.

You could also try scaring the annoying critters away by using motion and sound detecting devices which are actuated by the movement of squirrels. Better still, you could try your hands on fencing. Only ensure the fence is buried deep into the ground to prevent squirrels from burrowing through.

Another effective deterring technique is using mesh netting. Mesh netting works pretty well because it too strong to be chewed by squirrels and too compact for them to squeeze their way through. To use, cover your flower beds and nursery with the mesh netting.

Don’t be disappointed if after putting in all the efforts you still see squirrels lurking around in your garden. Squirrels small in size, though, are smart and can easily adapt to a changing environment. The best you can do is to reduce their destructive effect to the minimum. You would be setting yourself up for a huge disappointment by trying to keep them off completely.

All the deterring technique discussed here work really well, though you may have to use more than one technique at a time. Most importantly, if you choose to use repellents, diligently reapply them as frequently as possible.