Has anyone tried something like this to keep squirrels out of your fruit trees? Does it really work? Anyone just try mothballs? I'm thinking if they are hungry enough this will not deter them for long.

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product/squirrel-chaser-repellent.do

Sue

Sue,

I have used mothballs, garlic in cups with holes all around and even planted Marigolds to keep the rabbits away.
This method seemed to work but never noticed the squirrels to stay away.

My only solution to the squirrel problem is to trap them and relocate them or the easy way is to blast them with a 12ga. and leave them there.
There are enough wildlife where you live to clean them out by next morning for you.

Sue, I tried mothballs in the strawberry patch and the ripe strawberries were getting damaged, some eaten away and some scattered around in the patch.

Last winter was relatively mild and some apricot fruit buds survived to give a good fruit yield of apricot but some ripe ones will get damaged or drooped to the ground though I had put mothballs all around. Then I noticed that squirrels were jumping onto the apricot tree from the garage roof while the mothballs were on the ground level. Next year if there is any fruit I will hang the mothballs in the tree and see how it works. Thanks.

I have had zero luck getting squirrels to stay off anything.  They like to dig up my figs in 1gal pots, and they've chewed several of my plants - like two japanese maple saplings - in half, like a beaver.

Very annoying.

I've tried everything.  Cayenne in the pots, moth balls, mace/pepper spray, peanut butter/plaster of paris balls (supposed to kill them), plastic owls, rubber snakes, motion activated water jets... nothing works.  I bought a Crossman BB/pellet gun, but it died after about 30 shots (probably made in China these days). 

I finally broke down and got a Squirrelenator trap and the associated water dunk tank.  I haven't baited it and set it out, but I'll be damned if I haven't been tempted to several times.  I'll probably set it up on my deck in spring when the trees go back out again.  It supposedly holds up to four squirrels.  I plan to kill every last one of them.  I tried compromise, but let's face it - they're rats with fluffy tails, and they're invasive.  They could care less about us, so I need to take the same attitude with them.

Im thinking a dog would be a good choice for deterrant for squirrels , deers and maybe a few others critters.

Martin,

I have no fence on my property and no intention of putting one in. Love the open space so a dog would not be feasible. Can't chain up dogs here in CA...considered cruel especially if they get tangled and lose access to water until untangled. Also they'd have no chance against a pack of coyotes if chained.

Jason,
I too have a squirrelinator...just trying to find an alternative to killing them. It's a never ending loop. Kill the ones here and the 'neighbors' move in.

I have the PVC bait traps too but the bait from the AG is too expensive at $5/lb. May need to look for other poison baits that don't have a secondary kill similar to the AG bait.

Sue

We just put in a fence.  Makes the yard look smaller, but our 11-year-old pup loves it.  Not gonna help with the squirrels, they're too fast and there are too many.

I've been contemplating getting an outdoor cat.  My chipmunk problem is over but now that winter is here; squirrel are trying to look for nuts and PLANT THOSE GIVEN TO THEM BY MY BACK YARD NEIGHBOR!!!!!  Everyday I see squirrels traveling from my neighbors yard over the power wire above and down the persimmon tree in my back yard.  I have a REAL pellet gun and I've popped squirrels off that wire a few times.  But my neighbor still feeds them.  What kind of nuts does she feed them?  Pecan!  Every Spring I have to yank small pecan trees from my yard.  I lost metal plant tags from 3 of my fig trees last week.  I found the tags and the hunt is on for these TREE RATS!!!  Argh!!

A friend down the road uses peanut butter as bait and have trapped over 30 of them. I think she uses the water bath treatment to send them away. Good thing I have BEAR to chase them away. So far I have kept my trees low, like 6ft and BEAR gives them a good run for their dear lives. Only sore point is BEAR makes too much noise in the night after the racoons/possums. Have to keep him indoors during the night.

Unfortunately, in my area, Coyotes = no outdoor cats otherwise I'd have several!

I have 2 indoor Himalayans (rescued from the animal shelter) but they will never go out or its good bye.

In South Florida, my parents were very unhappy with the modus operandi of the local squirrels because their taste included only ripe backyard fruit: mango, avocado, sapote/sapodilla, and papaya. The summer the squirrels ate or partially ate (even worse) 2 for every 1 mango. This fall my folks started feeding a local cat pack of 5 big burly 'ganster' cats. And wouldn't you know it, the squirrels have taken a hiatus. There are ripening avocado (crazy weather) and sapote/sapodilla...yum.

BTW, last week I planted six fig trees (1 gallon pots) in their backyard tropical fruit jungle - Abebereira, Chico Strawberry, Hardy Chicago, LSU Gold, MVSB, and Stallion. They had better keep feeding those cats.

JD

Hey! A lot of those trees sound familiar! ;-) Good luck with them JD!

Sue--don't kow if it would be right for your situation, but you might consider an electronic "invisible fence" for a squirrel guard dog. See http://www.invisiblefence.com/ & http://www.dogfencediy.com/

Sue, I don't know what electronic invisiable fence cost
but it does work here. I'm surounded by homes with dogs.
Their owners had them installed. Minimum yard size is 1 acre.
These people are not rich so they can't be too expensive. The dogs have the run of the property and never leave. One is a German Sheppard, 2 Golden Retrivers, 1 maybe a standard size poodle. Good protection too. I don't know is dogs keep squirrles away. Its a thought.
 
Peg
z6 CT
 

It sounds like a great option I just don't want the responsibility that comes with dogs. At least with cats I can go away for the weekend, leave dry food and a couple sand boxes and a full filtered water recycling system and they are as good as gold when I get home. Can't do that with dogs. So I need another option for squirrels other than dogs...love to have a bulldog or a lab though...maybe one day when my wonderlust ebbs.

Sue

I was just chatting with a member who I shall keep anonymous in case they decide to take action against the will of other family members in a culvert manner.... ;)

I don't have tree squirrels here, thank God!  But I've heard of people successfully eliminating their squirrel problem with the Kania trap.  A few years ago I suggested that a member of the banana forum give it a try and she reported tremendous success.  I suggest you read her testimonial which I reported in post #51 at http://www.bananas.org/f2/freakin-squirrels-7642-3.html  "SEVERAL HUNDRED"!!!! :)

I have 2 cats, works well,now how do I get the turkeys out of the garden?

Sue,

Can't have a dog since I can't leave them at home??  Yes you can.  If you like to travel, have a friend take care of them for you, or an in home petsitter or take them to the kennel.  My dog loves the kennel, she can't wait to go to make new doggie friends.  At first I felt guilty leaving her, but when she practically busts the door down to get into the lobby of the kennel, well I don't worry about leaving her anymore.

oldvt,

Turkeys, hadn't thought about that one.  Reminds me of a solution an old boss had for turkeys in his garden.  He put up a 10 foot high chicken wire fence, it worked great.  Until one day a turkey just managed to clear the fence, got caught inside the fence, then freaked out trying to escape and in the process completely trashed the garden.  Just when you think you have problem solved you get thrown a curveball.

The Kania trap by far is the most effective way to get rid of tree squirrels without a doubt.  If is swift, humane, and extremely effective. They are well worth the investment. Here, in my neck of the woods, we have a terrible, terrible issue with ground squirrels, which worry my Aussies to no end, especially my young boy, who has taken on the mantle of "squirrel killer".  That dog has gone through the screen door twice to get at a particularly pesky ground squirrel. Even as wickedly quick as my youngest Aussie is (and he is something else), he is still no match for a gound squirrel in close quarters. So, essentially ineffective. For me, the only way I can keep them down to a low roar, is poison bait stations.  No other option, I have tried every single method of control.  We cannot have cats outside, due to our very high coyote population here in the hills of Vista (I back an abandoned 147 acre orange orchard that is full of every conceivable wild animal and predator you can name: coyotes, weasels, bobcats, racoons, opossums, red tailed hawks, red shouldered hawks, sharp shinned hawks, white tailed kites, american kestrals, barn owls, great horned owls, rattle snakes, king snakes, garter snakes, gopher snakes, road runners, just to name a few predators.)  All of these (and we have a lot of them, seen every day from my windows in multitude) cannot keep the rodent population down.  I am using non-kill through bait with great trepidation, as the bait is NOT reversible in my dogs, if my dogs get into the bait, but it saves the predators, while killing the pests.  Not only do I have ground squirrels, but I  have roof rats, mice, bunnies and gophers, all of which threaten my figs (and other fruit trees).  I love living out in nature, just struggle with our very high rodent population.  

Trap and kill is the most effective method to handle nuisance individual squirrels. However, keep in mind that you have to kill over 70 percent of a squirrel population before you have an impact on the subsequent years population. As soon as you stop intensive trapping populations will rebound to previous levels quickly.

There aren't any good deterrents that I know of.

If you don't like shooting or drowning squirrels in your traps you can use vehicle tailpipe slid into a hole cut in a box. Put trapped squirrel in box, close lid, start car and let idle for several minutes. Carbon monoxide will kill squirrel without suffering.

Personally I just shoot with 22 rifle, but I live in the country.

Still thinking on this one.  Here's a crazy idea, is there a way to lure birds of prey closer to your yard and perhaps get them to nest in the area?  That might work.

There are plans for building nest boxes for some species of owls that are cavity nesters, but hawks build nets out of limbs so are not as easily attracted for nesting.

I have an owl box in my yard.  So do 3 of my neighbors (two next door neighbors, and neighbor directly across the street, we are all big gardeners and amatuer fruit growers).  There are even old owl boxes in the orchard.  I have a gazillion (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not far from it) birds of prey over my land every single day, I can look out at any moment and see a red shouldered hawk, red tailed hawk, white tailed kite (they are the coolest birds of prey ever, can hover like a helicopter and are beautiful) circling over my property.  I still have a million (not exaggerating) ground squirrels, mice, bunnies, gophers and roof rats.  Womack is correct - you must make a very significant dent in the population for at least 2-3 years to keep them down.  I went on a rodent killing campaign 3 years ago when I moved into this place as we were overrun with them and I finally, finally can say that I am not seeing rodent droppings by my trash cans any more, and I am able to keep about 2/3 of my stone crops and figs, now.  And, nearly 100% of my citrus.  A huge, huge gain for me, and worth all the effort.  Traps and bait were my ultimate options, and snake fencing (to keep the bunnies out). 

Patty, I seriously doubt you have tried "every method" possible with your ground squirrels. ;)

I don't have tree squirrels here but, after an absence of about 8 years, ground squirrels have come back into my farm orchard area and the population got pretty bad this year.  I use gas cartridges (large ones only sold to folks with a private applicator's permit - i.e., pesticide license).  There is a pricey contraption called a rodenator which I've heard works pretty well on gophers and ground squirrels but I'm not ready to spend the $2,500 or so for that.  It basically fills the burrow with propane and oxygen and uses a spark to denoate it.  I decided to try my tool time tim version and took my cutting torch tanks out into the orchard along with some flexible hose and filled up the burrow with acetylene and oxygen.  I had hearing protection on and helmet, etc. just in case and then ignited with a lighter.  It was very loud and shot out a puff of smoke like a big cannon.  I don't know for sure if I killed the squirrel but joked to my worker that he should at least be deaf now and easier to sneak up on.  It wasn't the wises thing to do but I was standing back behind the hole so the risk of injury was very low and I had my worker get 50' away before lighting it up.  I would not advise this in city limits as Homeland Security might come pay you a visit and the squirrels would take over while you served some time awaiting trial.  I used the poisoned grain bait stations later and the smoke cartridges and think it was pretty effective but will learn more in the spring when some might re-surface.  I need to remain vigilant and act on them more quickly before populations get too bad.  Fortunately, they don't eat any of my fruit but their burrows around my chestnut orchard do cause problems with mowing and irrigating.