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Vinegar Prevents Squirrels from Eating Jack-O-Lanterns

Regina Yunghans
Regina Yunghans
Regina is an architect who lives with her husband and children in Lawrence, KS. As a LEED Accredited Professional and longtime contributor to Apartment Therapy and The Kitchn, her focus is on healthy, sustainable living through design.
published Nov 1, 2011
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

This is coming a day late, but we’ll be filing this away for next year: When we prepped our stoop for trick-or-treaters last night, we swept the stairs, turned on the lights, then went to light a candle in the jack-o-lantern. That’s when we noticed his face had been gnawed away – eyes, nose, and mouth – into one gigantic hole:

Squirrels are relentless at this time of year as they prepare for the long, cold, and fruitless winter. Which means our poor old Jack feel victim to their nibbles. For a quick fix, we simply rotated the pumpkin 180-degrees and carved a quick new face on the back of the pumpkin. But to protect next year’s decorations, it turns out vinegar once again is to the rescue.

The common household fix-all can be used to clean windows, repel ants, and disinfect surfaces. But it turns out that squirrels hate its scent and will stay away from pumpkins if you sprinkle a little around them. So, next year we’ll be armed and can proudly display the face it took us hours to carve instead of the one thrown together in a couple of seconds as the kiddos came bounding down the walk.

Have you ever had a Jack-O-Lantern foiled by squirrels? Did you come up with any other solutions?

Image: Shutterstock

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