Stop Squirrel Damage

Stop Squirrel Damage

Squirrels are voracious eaters capable of completely ruining a garden if left unchecked. They are mostly active during spring, and it is during time that they go around devouring garden plants. Squirrels lack etiquettes; whenever they come visiting, they will destroy flower pots, ruin flower beds, dig up bulbs, chew away tree barks, bite off leave tips and eat up shoots of new plants. As if that’s not enough, they will dig up soils of a garden, using the holes as storage for nuts and other food items.

Tactics for keeping away squirrels

There are several tactics for squirrel-proofing your garden. The tactics shared here work best when applied to gardens protected with containers, but may also be applied to flower beds. Of the several tactics used for squirrel-proofing, using physical barriers work best. Another technique which works pretty well is getting empty flower pots and then placing attracting stones. Next, plant bamboo skewers with sharply pointed tips into the pot. Squirrels are scared at the sight of pointed objects.

If none of the tactics discussed above works, place chicken wire directly above the soil where your bulbs are planted. Doing this will deter the pesky critters from digging up the bulbs in your garden. However, the wire should be removed immediately after the shoot of the plant appears.

One simple tactics for deterring squirrels from flower pots is by filling the pot with objects that repulse squirrels – coffee bean seeds are typical examples. For better results, plant the coffee seed in the soil holding the bulb or flower. Squirrels hate the smell of coffee bean, but don’t get hurt even if they accidentally eat the beans.

Pepper spray, a natural form of repellent is effective at deterring pesky squirrels. Hot pepper spray solution can be prepared at home by mixing liquid soap with a portion of ground pepper spray, and then emptying the solution into a bottle. If you haven’t got the time to prepare one at home, buying a commercial pepper spray repellent will be a better option. Instead of applying the solution directly to your garden plant, apply it on the soil holding the plant and squirrels will stay away for good. Just like every other type of deterrent, hot pepper spray needs to be frequently applied because they easily get washed away by the rains.

An alternative to hot pepper spray is bone meal especially that sourced from a blood of pigs as well as cows. Blood meal offers two fold benefit; it repels invasive squirrels and at the same time adds essential nutrient like ammonia and nitrogen to the soil. The repelling power of blood meal comes from its ability to create a false sense of a predator, thus making squirrels scamper for safety. A good place buy blood meal is in a slaughter house.

Another type of natural repellent which works pretty well is the human hair. Good enough, you don’t have to cover your entire garden with human hair just to repel squirrels – a few strands sprinkled strategically will do. If you can’t lay your hands on human hair, go for animal hair, especially that from a dog or cat.

If none of the mentioned deterring technique works, you may have try your hands on professionally prepared repellent like Squirrel MACE which is very effective. Squirrel MACE not only works against squirrels but also chipmunks, and raccoons – you will be glad you used it.