Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound and swiftly snack on everything from your garden veggies to electrical wires, squirrels are super-powered acrobats with never-ending appetites. It won't be easy, but you can help protect your garden from these nibbling nuisances.
"In the vegetable garden, I've had some success with bloodmeal sprinkled on the soil surface, the smell of which squirrels seem to shun," says master gardener Paul James. "Hot pepper sprays work reasonable well too, and as a bonus they deter most insect pests."
If squirrels are helping themselves to seconds at your bird feeders, try changing the menu. Instead of serving the popular sunflower, milo, and millet seed mixes, fill your feeders with two of the few things squirrels prefer not to eat--safflower and thistle seeds. Safflower seeds are a favorite snack of cardinals, doves, chickadees, titmice, grosbeaks, nuthatches and finches. Thistle seeds attract goldfinches, pine siskins, mourning doves, and juncos. The downside to using this alternative seed mix is that you won't attract as many birds as you would with a mix containing the more popular seeds.
If you prefer the popular seed mixes and enjoy the large variety of birds they attract, try sprinkling them with cayenne pepper. Add a tablespoon or two of the pepper to the seed mix each time you refill the feeder. Ornithologists or bird scientists confirm that cayenne pepper does not cause any harm to our feathered friends, and while the birds don't even taste the spice, squirrels will most likely dine elsewhere.
Another main-course alternative is suet, a block of rendered animal fat. Just make sure to use a pure suet, one that doesn't contain any bits of seeds or berries.
Another way to stop unwanted squirrels is to baffle them with specially designed, squirrel-safe gizmos. Rather than trying to be slick and applying grease or petroleum jelly to the wooden feeder post which actually doesn't seem to phase the squirrels, James suggests placing mounted feeders on a 4"- or 6"-wide section of PVC pipe to make climbing more difficult. Not only does the PVC have a tough, smooth surface that makes scaling the sides difficult, there's no messy grease to fool with! Remember that squirrels can leap horizontally up to 10 feet, so make sure the feeder is located as far away from any trees, fences, or other structures as possible. James also recommends mounting the feeder at least six feet off the ground.
Or why not simply give the squirrels a feeder of their own? Squirrels love corn, roasted and unsalted peanuts, peanut butter, fresh and dried fruit, dry dog food, and sunflower seeds. Just make sure to locate the squirrel feeder at least 30 feet away from your bird feeders.
But, says James, perhaps one of the best methods of protection comes from another four-legged fur ball, a dog that enjoys chasing squirrels!
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