apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd always been a fan of squirrels until last summer, when they ate every single pansy in my flower boxes.

This year, I tried putting coffee grinds (used) on top of the soil in my flower pots. So far, so good, but we'll see what happens. A nice side benefit is that the coffee is good for acid-loving plants.

cayenne pepper worked for me!

I'm looking forward to trying this. There could be additional entertainment value if it causes the squirrels to sneeze.

Kudos to you for trying to find a humane solution to your problem. Too often people will take unnecessarily extreme measures on an animal because it's more convenient.

I've never had problems with squirrels before, but I'll keep this tip in mind if I do!

I've had so many problems with squirrels digging up my flowers. I tried so many different things and nothing worked. The only thing that actually worked was putting pinwheels in my flower boxes. The movement distracts them and they run away.

This year as an extra precaution, I put chicken wire straight up around the edge of my window boxes so they can't jump in and dig around (like a 3" high fence). So far so good!

dog fur works for me, but you have to redo it after a good rain. Luckily, my black lab has an unlimited supply and it blends in with the soil. :)

The squirrels in my hood love cayenne and habanera, for that matter. Neither has been a deterrent.

Blood meal is the only thing that has worked for me. I found out by accident when I used it to feed my bamboo. I thought is would be gross, but it's a black powder. Once it's watered, the soil has no distinctive smell to humans, but apparently the squirrels think a predator is in the area.

ChzPlz,

That is a great idea - and I have something to add to that line of thought. I have been told that when fertilizing a lawn or flowerbeds that horse manure is not only great for the plants but dogs will then avoid those areas. The person claimed they can detect that the manure is from a much bigger animal and they will then stay away. I wonder if that also would keep the squirrels from digging?

Considering I've seen dogs eat horse manure or roll in it, I don't know if that would work.

http://www.caninecrib.com/dog/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=74&PN=1&get=last

http://www.ourfirsthorse.com/2006/05/my-dog-eats-horse-poop/

This link might work:
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:3fNFwmqQxkUJ:www.spca.org/site/DocServer/PIC-Puppies_eat_poop-English.pdf%3FdocID%3D2590 dogs horse manure&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a

Here's some food for thought: In Britain, squirrels are now considered "local cuisine". In fact, with fuel prices as they are and increasing, some British consider it a "moral imperative" to eat locally-sourced food, and a squirrel in your back yard is pretty local.

BTW, I have no desire to eat squirrel and I'm not promoting the eating of squirrel, but if it catches on in a big way, I'd probably be open to giving it a try.

From yesterday's newspaper:
http://www.thestar.com/article/439338

I give mine peanuts and the leave the plants alone.

unsalted raw peanuts!

My neighborhood squirrel is rad. I've named him Jerry and give him pistachios or walnut pieces on my front step. Sometimes he sits on his haunches and points at himself when I greet him.

i've recently tried a product called Shake-Away in my garden, which is concentrated fox pee. its worked for two days but we'll see what happens. i've read online that cayenne pepper actually causes the critter's eyes to burn (like when you get it in your eyes). seems odd that humane society would approve if that is true.

The only problem with cayenne is that it can harm the nice soft bodied spiders and beetles that eat bad bugs in the garden. I had a jerky squirrel who mocked my cats and dig everything up and I finally used chicken wire around and over my seedling plants. He got the message after a week or so, left and didn't come back, and I was able to remove the wire. Squirrels are very territorial so once you get rid of him he probably won't come back.