Grrr...Squirrels

rockm

Funny, my neighbor used to feed the birds all winter with a large feeder that held literally gallons of seed. Used to have my fence "whitewashed" by March and seed hulls six inches deep underneath the feeder. I hated it. The feeder drew not only birds, but squirrels, field mice and field rats. Ick.

Luckily, I was not the only one watching all those critters stuffing themselves. One day, a medium-sized hawk showed up--parked himself on a branch about 300 yards away and efficiently flew in and killed quite a few of the birds over a period of days. The hawk ate them rather indelicately in my neighbor's yard, leaving little body parts and feathers all over .

My neighbor got very upset that a hawk would do such a thing -kill the cute widdle birdies AND eat them in her backyard. She has since removed the feeder saying it drew "nasty birds like hawks"...Sometimes, nature's too "naturey" for some folks. And sometimes problems like this take care of themselves. I wish i could convince the hawk to help out with the squirrels.

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jguyett

I stopped feeding the bird in the back yard as there were three varieties of Hawks that were using the bird feeder as a dining area. Sort of one from column A and two from column B.

Have three black walnut trees, and tons of squirrels. They also eat the soft maple seeds which come in by the ton from the twenty or so of those in my yard. It is amazing that the furry little devils can get a black walnut stored in a 4" growth pot with out distrubing the tree I am trying to grow. Later in the spring I have black walnuts popping up all over the yard. My squirrels have poor long term memories.

The eastern diamondback in the yard seems to have eliminated the chipmunks, but hasn't touched the squirrels. No you don't tiptoe outback barefoot after dark.

Have to believe live trapping would be the answer, then transporting to some spot five or six miles away. My neighbor get upset at gunfire, so shooting is out of the question. Silly city folks.

jg

Todd_Renshaw

I have sporadic trouble with squirrels here in Michigan. I live in an area with many big, old trees and a healthy squirrel population living in them. Some of my bonsai never get touched, others (usually those with thinner bark like a nice Elephant Bush/Dwarf Jade* or my azaleas) seem to be like candy to them.

*Had a big bite taken out of the trunk a couple years ago. It'll probably never heal over completely.

Dana Quattlebaum from Brussel's Bonsai gave me this tip: watch for the squirrels to bite into your trees during times of drought. (What they're looking for is water.) I kept a bin of water available for them last summer (away from the bonsai) and didn't notice any new bite marks. But I also take one extra precaution from about mid-summer to fall; I cover my thin-barked bonsai with bird netting. The netting can be a real pain sometimes because it has to be unentangled from the foliage whenever I want to rotate, pick-up or otherwise move my bonsai. But on the plus side, you can water right through it and it doesn't obstruct your view of the bonsai. (Of course, it's a bit distracting, visually. If you anticipate any visiting Japanese dignitaries will drop by, you'd want to clear the netting off for a while!)

I'll bet a squirrel could bite right through if it really wanted to get inside, but it's just enough of a deterrent to make them go somewhere else. The netting can also be cut to different sizes to make it more manageable. I try to group my bonsai together by height and cover 5 to 10 of them with a single piece of netting. (Seems less trouble than covering each individually.) Be sure that the width of the netting is enough that you can have plenty of excess to stuff up around the pots, or tuck underneath. The squirrels will find any gaps!

As for digging in the pots, that could happen at any time of the year, but I notice it most in the fall when the squirrels are burying maple seeds, (for their winter food caches). They're burying their food everywhere, all day long and the bonsai just happen to be convenient. The bird netting is usually enough of a discouragement to stop most of this.

I've also used dried blood meal and ground cayenne pepper sprinkled on my bonsai soil or around the perimeter of my bonsai bench, but I've found that it tends to wash away quickly.

Todd

Will_Heath

Rumor has it that there are so many of these critters buried in our garden that the tomatos taste like Squirrel Stew.

Be careful, as I mentioned here, they can cause so unexpected damage also.

Will Heath

susieq

Try living in the remains of an old (125 years) pecan grove.....talk about squirrels!!! I have understanding neighbors and they don't care if I shoot them with my air gun. Over the last 25 years I have buried or given to the neighborhood cats hundreds of squirrels. (I am a good shot)

For those of you who can't do this because you don't have understanding neighbors I will pass on what an old bonsai friend in the same situation told me.
Buy a standard rat trap (or two or three) and bait it with peanut butter.
It works quite well according to my friend and the neighbors will never know.
Good hunting and healthy bonsai to all
susieq

pootsie

Solution courtesy of Engrish.com


pootsie

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p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

jloeschner

This is actually one of the more appetizing menus on that site! Of course, I have to wonder, if it only "look like squirrel" what is it? Hmmm.......maybe it tastes like chicken?

Regards,
John

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.

QUI ME AMAT, AMAT ET CANEM MEAM

ripssurf

yes you could always call will, the squirrel hunter. if he's not available, i can get my friend jay out in texas. they used to have a squirrel problem in days gone by. he told me that a .3006 hunting rifle took quick care of them.

as for me. i stay away from them. no rabies for me thank you.

jeff