Squirrels Eating My Strawberries!

[jyl]

The squirrels are eating my strawberries.

What can I do about this?

Don't bother suggesting gunplay. I'm sure its fun, but I live in the city and can't sit around all day waiting to catch one of the things in the act.

Traps would need to be cat-proof. Ditto land mines.

[masraum]

Grow something that squirrels don't eat?

On a more serious note, could you cover them in something like this?


Sorry, good luck.

[regency]

Git a couple of Wiener Dogs.

[HardDrive]

Sorry sport, gunplay is your only option outside of completely caging your strawberries. Not kidding. Squirrels played hell with our garden last year. I had no interest in hermetically sealing everything in chicken wire. So I bought a silenced Ruger .22 pellet gun. Cheap. It was a LOT of fun picking them off.

[jyl]

So, chicken wire is the only non-projectile solution?

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by jyl

So, chicken wire is the only non-projectile solution?

Unless you don't mind poison?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

So, chicken wire is the only non-projectile solution?

I guess you could, based on my experience with our dachshund, consider weiner dogs projectiles.

[Evans, Marv]

A pellet gun would be fun, but you'd have to hang around a lot until you picked off almost all of them. Plus your strawberries would still be a big draw for other squirrels & animals coming in. I vote for the chicken wire enclosure. If you do that make sure you get the poultry fabric with the small (half to three quarter inch) holes in it instead of the regular stuff.

[wdfifteen]

Cayenne pepper, spread liberally around the area. I buy it in 1 lb containers at an institutional food place here. I've found cayenne to be a very effective rodent repellant. Squirrels and chipmunks eat flower bulbs as soon as I plant them if I don't use cayenne. Don't get it on the berries of course.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Cayenne pepper, spread liberally around the area. I buy it in 1 lb containers at an institutional food place here. I've found cayenne to be a very effective rodent repellant. Squirrels and chipmunks eat flower bulbs as soon as I plant them if I don't use cayenne. Don't get it on the berries of course.

How does it affect birds? My parents have a crazy neighbor (yes, really). My dad has a few bird feeders outside the kitchen windows - facing the crazy neighbor. His yard is perfect for rats and a lot come down the hill and feed on the feeders and water from the bird bath. Poison was used for a while, but can't be used as we were finding dead birds. The rats are smart and only died in traps if poison was the bait. They did not fall for anything else. I bought a little pistol x-bow but it's not accurate at close distances and have yet to try it on the rats for fear of a bolt ending up in the crazy neighbor's yard. I'm in the same position - in the big city. Silenced BB is the only real way to go, but not quite legal.

Will the cayenne pepper discourage the ground birds (towhee's mostly)?

Thanks!

[wdfifteen]

Birds don't have the receptors for capsaisin so cayenne doesn't affect them at all. When the squirrels get bad I sprinkle cayenne in the trough of the bird feeders and it slows them down. There is a cone on the bird feeder pole that's meant to keep them out, but some of them manage to crawl around if I don't spray it with Pam and sprinkle cayenne on it. That really slows them down. Nothing keeps them completely out.

[Tobra]

Red Fox Urine, try a local hunting shop

[GH85Carrera]

Just be glad the squirrels are not going after your nuts!

[rusnak]

+1 on silenced .22 pellet gun.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by slodave

How does it affect birds? ...

Will the cayenne pepper discourage the ground birds (towhee's mostly)?

Thanks!

How to Get Rid of Animal Pests With Hot Pepper Spray: 8 Steps

A little better explanation of how the hot pepper works as a deterrent and how to mix it up.

[fastfredracing]

[stevej37]

I bought one of these...works perfect. Squirrelinator

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I bought one of these...works perfect. Squirrelinator

Cool. We have a blind side to our property that I can't realistically view and/or fire a weapon. Looks like this might do the trick!

[EarlyPorsche]

Squirrelinator seems so obvious! I love the idea

[fanaudical]

Regarding chicken wire - I've had squirrels get through chicken wire without issue. If going this route, I recommend real hardware cloth with no larger than 1/2" square openings.

The Squirrelinator looks like the gadget to have!