War on Squirrels

cardboard2me

Hi. I am having trouble with squirrels digging in my bonsai, as well as the rest of my plants. I guess they find it easier to dig and hide nuts in the pots. Also, most potting soils for regular plants have the occasional peanut in them, and I have a feeling they have learned to dig these out during the winter for food. I live in a 3rd floor apartment, with my bonsai on a balcony. There are landscape trees very close to the building, and the little suckers are able to get up there no problem. My cat attacked one of them, and injured it, leaving a bloody trail giong over the railing and down the tree to the ground. The raids stopped for a couple weeks, but now they are back. I have tried a number of things already, including putting wire mesh around the tops of the pots to keep them out and urinating on the plants to mark my territory, so to speak. Thing is, the squirrels have all day to undo whatever barrier i try and put up, so I am losing the battle. I don't want to hurt the little guys, but all is fair... I am now considering the following options:
1)Pellet gun
2)Real gun (I really hope it doesn't come to that)
3)Razor wire
4)Some sort of trap to kill, mame, or capture them.
5)Poison
6)Other chemical agents, perhaps cayanne pepper or something to burn them.
Your advice would be much appreciated.

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Ian_Homer

I have a few run ins with Squirrels from time to time, but our West Highland Terrier is red hot at seeing them off if they come near my trees.

A relative has told me about trying grated solid soap on their normal runs, which is supposed to be a major deterrent. Have not tried that before, so has anyone else heard of this as a quite harmless way of keeping them away?

Regards,
Ian.

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zenwarrior

cardboard2me,


squirrels are at the bottom.



http://forum.bonsaitalk.com/showthr...light=squirrels

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cardboard2me

the pepper thing seems to work for people, so I put a little solution on the soil and around the pots. thanks for the links. I actually considered making miniature caltrops today I was so angry.

You can see them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrop

badlad52

MOTH BALLS! worked for me REAL well to keep the cute little things away from my feeders, and that's when they turned to my plants! So now they have their own food, and they leave everything else alone (as long as I keep it full...)!

susieq

Greetings Cardboard2me,
You have my deepest sympathy for your problem. Many of us have posted here in the past regarding the same problem. I live in the remains of a 125 year old pecan grove and we are lousy with the little buggers. I am lucky because my neighbors don't care if I shoot them with an airgun. Over the years I have probably killed enough to fill a chest freezer. I leave them alone if they quit bothering the bonsai but every now and then they start again. Then it is time to thin the herd til they quit.

If shooting is not an option for you, then try baiting a rat trap with peanut butter. An old friend of mine in an upscale neighborhood used this method and it worked well. The neighbors were none the wiser. Good luck with your problem.
susieq

PS I don't ever recomend poison. Once it's out there, you have no control over what eats it. You may kill something you didn't want to kill.

badlad52

I want to be careful of posting my opinions, but I would avoid EVER killing one of them (unless you intend to consume it...). Yeah, sure, they're causing dammage, but that doesn't mean it's time to die! At least try something else first!

D3rutat

instead of making them go away, why don't you give them what they need? You can easily set up a tray with some nuts in them so that they won't have to dig up your trees....

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Wen

Killing squirrels will do nothing, they'll just make more. Do a search for animal repellants and you will find a few ultrasonic products. I HIGHLY suggest them. These work incredibly well, and we are on ground level with an abundance of wild things. Mine is motion activated.

I attribute some of my luck to this (the local hawks help too). Mine is positioned in a place where my most important trees are, so on a balcony it should do wonders for you.

And mothballs are fantastic too, I agree. Great for sheds or garages.

I've never had a problem with our many squirrels, bunnies, deer, rats, chimpmunks, or cats. Ducks on the other hand either don't hear it or don't care.