I Actually Hate Squirrels

[PalmTreeDude]

So I came home today to literally every single community pot I had on my deck ripped up and broken seeds everywhere... It was definitely a squirrel because no bird here could do that much damage and I saw a squirrel on my deck two days in a row before this happened. Any way to protect community pots from squirrels? 

Edited April 16, 2019 by PalmTreeDude

[Hillizard]

6 minutes ago, PalmTreeDude said:

So I came home today to literally every single community pot I had on my deck ripped up and broken seeds everywhere... It was definitely a squirrel because no bird here could do that much damage and I saw a squirrel on my deck two days in a row before this happened. Any way to protect community pots from squirrels? 

I make a dome of hardware (wire) cloth over my community pots to keep out the local gray squirrels and scrub jays. For all my other plants in pots of any size, I put stones around the base of each plant. The effort to move the rocks to dig into the soil seems to discourage the squirrels.  Also, you can put out a "decoy" pot with just soil and no plants and let them "play" in that.  I've also heard that sprinkling blood meal over the soil surface repels squirrels. Hope you find a solution.  They're very clever and persistent pests.

[Matt in OC]

Yikes, that is awful. We have squirrels but I've never had a problem with them bothering seedlings in pots. Rats, on the other hand, have done a lot of damage. 

[FishEyeAquaculture]

Squirrels have become public enemy #1 around here for that reason. Back in December, they managed to obliterate close to 80 Chambeyronia hookeri seedlings in a matter of hours.  Since then we’ve built cages to keep seedlings safe as well as removal of said vermin.  As of today, 73 squirrels have perished from “lead poisoning” through the assistance of a .410. 

 

[Josue Diaz]

Jonathan's method is probably the absolute best way to go about protecting your pots from squirrels. I have random palm seedlings coming up from seeds which squirrels took and stashed in the ground. So far, I've found two jubaeopsis, two syagrus kellyana, a couple of syagrus cearensis, chambeyronia houailou, and a handful of jubaea seedlings. I found that covering my pots with large rocks tends to keep them from digging. You might find surprises over summer, squirrels don't always eat what they take. Our local squirrels tend to hide their food in the ground, which here is mostly acorns. And around my yard,  palm seeds. 

[Laaz]

Washingtonis's do help a bit... 

[Gonzer]

[UK_Palms]

We have a big problem with squirrels in the UK. Specifically the North American grey squirrel which was introduced in the 1800s and has since obliterated the native red squirrel population to the point that it is now non-existent. I don't think I have ever seen one of our native red squirrels in my lifetime to be honest (it certainly isn't present around here), whereas I have literally seen thousands of grey squirrels, who are also now destroying our native trees, such as Ash and Oak.

Apparently there are 3.5 million invasive grey squirrels in the UK, compared to 95,000 native red squirrels (most of which are now restricted to northern England & Scotland). They are also eating a variety of fauna here to the point of extinction, which the red squirrel did not consume as part of its diet. Local councils have been operating eradication programs for 10 years in my area, but their numbers are still increasing by 5% every year. Thankfully I have never had one attack one of my palms... yet. But they did attack my cannabis plants a few years ago, destroying 75% of my medical crop overnight. Plants that had only been in the ground for 2-3 weeks, ripped to bits and yanked out of the ground. 

[GottmitAlex]

Ruger 10/22 22lr.  Bx-25 mag... give it to 'em. I suggest getting the front band replacement LaserMax for it.  It is surgically precise up to 50 yards. Battery lasts 4 months with use.

 

[UK_Palms]

12 minutes ago, GottmitAlex said:

Ruger 10/22 22lr.  Bx-25 mag... give it to 'em. I suggest getting the front band replacement LaserMax for it.  It is surgically precise up to 50 yards. Battery lasts 4 months with use.

 

Or you can just use these...

 

 

 

[GottmitAlex]

15 minutes ago, UK_Palms said:

Or you can just use these...

 

 

 

I would think the xbow, beautiful, btw, employs smaller darts/arrows than the fine bow you have. But yeah, the crossbow will fit the bill for squirrels.

 

[mwardlow]

Rat's ate the heads off all my chamaedorea metallica's last year so I'm looking into getting one of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqlwUXP-ubI

[PalmTreeDude]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I am thinking of building a seedling cage this weekend. Although I don't like killing animals endless I'm hunting, I may have to... I got an image of the squirrel digging up my planters too, so that's nice, hes getting dangerously close to my newly plated Sabal minor seedlings! 

[GottmitAlex]

15 minutes ago, PalmTreeDude said:

Thank you all for the suggestions, I am thinking of building a seedling cage this weekend. Although I don't like killing animals endless I'm hunting, I may have to... I got an image of the squirrel digging up my planters too, so that's nice, hes getting dangerously close to my newly plated Sabal minor seedlings! 

The meat's a bit tough, but marinated a night before, it's pretty good.

[Rickybobby]

3 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Ruger 10/22 22lr.  Bx-25 mag... give it to 'em. I suggest getting the front band replacement LaserMax for it.  It is surgically precise up to 50 yards. Battery lasts 4 months with use.

 

10/22 is my choice for my squirrels and chipmunks as well!

[Brad Mondel]

My dog keeps them in check, occasionally one will sneak by and plant pecan nuts into my pots which sprout later on.

[Josue Diaz]

4 hours ago, Brad Mondel said:

My dog keeps them in check, occasionally one will sneak by and plant pecan nuts into my pots which sprout later on.

lol the squirrels are much too fast for my dogs - and I have FOUR full grown huskies. I wish they were scared of my pups. 

[Steve Mac]

But squirrels are soo cute .... how could you not love squirrels?   

[GottmitAlex]

[Laaz]

On 4/16/2019 at 7:53 PM, GottmitAlex said:

The meat's a bit tough, but marinated a night before, it's pretty good.

[Merlyn]

An air rifle is pretty effective against them too, and pretty accurate out to about 50 yards or more.  So far (knock on wood) my only squirrel problems have been minor, they seem to like following me around on new plantings and digging little holes next to the trunk of my new palms. 

The bigger problem for me is the local black bears.  Last fall they came through and ate the tops off of my bananas and ripped a couple of white bird of paradise to shreds and then left chewed on pieces scattered in the yard.  A month ago one wandered up to my back door to look inside, and when I shooed it away it stomped on a freshly replanted (bare root shipment) Arenga Australasica.  The rest of the fronds look mostly ok but the spear is now dead...GRRRRRRRRRR!  Hopefully it'll grow out of it, or cluster a new one off the side.  

[kinzyjr]

11 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

An air rifle is pretty effective against them too, and pretty accurate out to about 50 yards or more.  So far (knock on wood) my only squirrel problems have been minor, they seem to like following me around on new plantings and digging little holes next to the trunk of my new palms. 

The bigger problem for me is the local black bears.  Last fall they came through and ate the tops off of my bananas and ripped a couple of white bird of paradise to shreds and then left chewed on pieces scattered in the yard.  A month ago one wandered up to my back door to look inside, and when I shooed it away it stomped on a freshly replanted (bare root shipment) Arenga Australasica.  The rest of the fronds look mostly ok but the spear is now dead...GRRRRRRRRRR!  Hopefully it'll grow out of it, or cluster a new one off the side.  

A few of my squirrels have gotten a little more assertive and started digging in my pots.  In the back, they did the hole digging to the point of killing one of my Phoenix theophrasti.  I just went through the yard and filled in some other holes they left for me.  Haven't had a visit from a black bear yet, but I'm in the city so that's probably not going to happen.

[Merlyn]

27 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

A few of my squirrels have gotten a little more assertive and started digging in my pots.  In the back, they did the hole digging to the point of killing one of my Phoenix theophrasti.  I just went through the yard and filled in some other holes they left for me.  Haven't had a visit from a black bear yet, but I'm in the city so that's probably not going to happen.

I completely forgot about the one plant squirrels did kill.  I had some Heliconia rhizomes that had just started sprouting in pots, and a squirrel dug up one of them to plant nuts in the pot.  That rhizome quickly rotted and died.  Little bastards!!!  Rats with tails!!!

I'm only a few miles from the Wekiva River, and bears wander through our neighborhood looking for trash every once in a while.  A few years ago a few came out of the woods and grabbed an elderly lady in her garage.  She was lucky!

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-bear-attack-lake-mary-20140412-story.html

[Jim in Los Altos]

I enjoy the squirrels, at least until my collies chase them out. They do a good job of reducing the palm fruit that would otherwise litter the ground. I've never had a problem with them doing anything to my seedlings. Rats on the other hand. Ugh.

[Gonzer]

9 hours ago, Merlyn2220 said:

I completely forgot about the one plant squirrels did kill.  I had some Heliconia rhizomes that had just started sprouting in pots, and a squirrel dug up one of them to plant nuts in the pot.  That rhizome quickly rotted and died.  Little bastards!!!  Rats with tails!!!

I'm only a few miles from the Wekiva River, and bears wander through our neighborhood looking for trash every once in a while.  A few years ago a few came out of the woods and grabbed an elderly lady in her garage.  She was lucky!

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-bear-attack-lake-mary-20140412-story.html

Um...isn't a tail standard equipment on a rat?

 

[GottmitAlex]

In Baja, many of the washingtonias with skirts still attached are havens for bats, mice and squirrels, among other things....

No, those don't fall off by themselves. They are also armed... just a mess.

 

 

[Merlyn]

1 hour ago, GottmitAlex said:

They are also armed... just a mess.

The squirrels are armed??!??!!11?  Holy crap!  Around here they just dig holes, they don't shoot back!  

[GottmitAlex]

3 minutes ago, Merlyn2220 said:

The squirrels are armed??!??!!11?  Holy crap!  Around here they just dig holes, they don't shoot back!  

[Palm crazy]

On 4/17/2019 at 4:23 PM, gtsteve said:

But squirrels are soo cute .... how could you not love squirrels?   

I love squirrels too. But have developed a love-hate relationship with the eastern grey squirrels. They have run off all my native (well behaved) red squirrels and chipmunks.  You all might think I am nuts for feeding the squirrels but I find them entertaining to watch. I spend around $200 or more a month on food for them, nuts, right? They do a lot of damage to some of my plants like last year all my gerbera daisy flowers were pick off one by one last spring by the squirrels and they seem to love new bamboo shoots. The worst is when they chew my new palm leaves off in summer...  But like I said I do find them entertaining. So when they say don't feed them or you'll never get rid of them they mean it. LOL!   I get about 20 squirrels every day.  I also put food out for the raccoons at night so I am a hopeless animal lover.  

Edited April 23, 2019 by Palm crazy

[PalmTreeDude]

I just finished this tonight... This is mainly for seed germination, so I put a solid top on to prevent the rain from turning up the soil in the pots. 

[HtownPalms]

I think i stumbled onto the hunting sub forum!

This is the first year that I have tried growing palm seedlings. Something dug a couple up the other night. We were thinking it was raccoons, but squirrels make much more sense. Of course all my dug up seedlings died. Looks like I need to go get some bullets for my varmint gun. 

[Chester B]

I don't like squirrels but I find they don't do a lot of damage.  Rabbits however are the bane of my existence.  Even if they don't eat it, they like to sample so can destroy young plants or new shoots overnight.  I have two big dogs and although they've never gotten a squirrel the one is a pretty accomplished rabbit killer.  I don't condone his behavior but he does pick the odd one off at night when I can't see there is one in the yard.  I do like to say he is the only dog that I've had that has somewhat earned his keep by ridding the garden of pests and giving me the odd free meal.

[GottmitAlex]

11 hours ago, Chester B said:

I don't like squirrels but I find they don't do a lot of damage.  Rabbits however are the bane of my existence.  Even if they don't eat it, they like to sample so can destroy young plants or new shoots overnight.  I have two big dogs and although they've never gotten a squirrel the one is a pretty accomplished rabbit killer.  I don't condone his behavior but he does pick the odd one off at night when I can't see there is one in the yard.  I do like to say he is the only dog that I've had that has somewhat earned his keep by ridding the garden of pests and giving me the odd free meal.

Why don't you condone his behaviour? 

[Chester B]

12 hours ago, GottmitAlex said:

Why don't you condone his behaviour? 

I hate hearing them scream.  Fortunately he has gotten really good so one chomp and they're pretty much dead instantly.

[RJ]

5 minutes ago, Chester B said:

I hate hearing them scream.  Fortunately he has gotten really good so one chomp and they're pretty much dead instantly.

The screaming is pretty bad IMO. Sounds like a baby being ... well you get the point.  First time I heard it when I was a kid I nearly called the cops. 

[Palm crazy]

7 minutes ago, Chester B said:

I hate hearing them scream.  Fortunately he has gotten really good so one chomp and they're pretty much dead instantly.

One of my big cats use to catch large possums and that was a very unnerving sound when he would try to pull them through the chain link fence by the tail. Took a few shouts at him to let it go, Now smaller ones no problem and the occasional large rat was a nice treat for him. LOL! 

[Gtlevine]

On 4/16/2019 at 12:44 PM, PalmTreeDude said:

So I came home today to literally every single community pot I had on my deck ripped up and broken seeds everywhere... It was definitely a squirrel because no bird here could do that much damage and I saw a squirrel on my deck two days in a row before this happened. Any way to protect community pots from squirrels? 

I hate them too. I live on 7 acres and i need to kill about twenty squirrels per year. They undermine my garden with massive tunneling and they eat everything in site. They even chop off cycad leaves and just leave them on the ground. All seedlings of any plant need to be caged. I use 1/2” polytube and 1/8” with the right size emitter. The squirrels bite them in half or chew of the heads constantly. I have to pile heavy rocks on the 1/8” so the squirrels dont chew it. Not only do they cause chaos in the garden, but the squirrels in San Diego are mean and butt ugly. Some eastern US squirrels are at least cute or attractive, ours look like ugly rats, all around bad animal.

Gary

[Laaz]

Tree rats are lazy, all I do is buy a roll of wire grating & cut it to size. Use two bamboo or any type of long stakes & they leave it alone.