Hello all,
I have so many delicious peaches, apples, pluots, plums, etc. that are weeks away from ripening, but if it’s anything like last summer (and I’m sure it will be), squirrels will eat about 90% of them!
Does anyone know an effective way to deter squirrels that does not involve killing them?
Last year I netted my trees; it is fairly effective but quite a big hassles and the squirrels got to many of the fruits anyways.
Thanks!
Mike in the (626)
The Rugged Ranch Squirrelinator on Amazon is your ticket out of squirrel hell if you really want to know. Since I bought mine I have had 29 come to be taken away! Should have a better year for my plums
Dennis
Kent, wa
If you ever do opt for killing them… this device will wipe them out… quick, clean kill… one after the other… it can make multiple kills one right after the other all day long.
Amazon lists the full package at $250 - seems a mite pricey. I see you can get the basic unit for about $100, which still ain’t cheap. Am I missing a better offer somewhere?
The reviews seem to indicate that squirrels quickly figure out they can eat through the top of the device rendering it an expensive piece of plastic.
I put a dent in the local population using a tube trap, but the process is slow and tedious.
Relocating does little as the surrounding areas generally have pretty healthy populations and our hobby generates a veritable Garden of Eden for them.
electric fence; chicken wire up 2 to 3 ft, then hot wires up to 5 ft. Keeps deer, raccoons and most tree rats out.
Each of my trees close to harvest will get a rat trap tied to a scaffold.
If you’re serious about that, a screened in growing cage is about all I can think of. Half inch hardware cloth covering 100% of the structure. With a screen door for entrance. It also solves bird and other critter issues. I had one once and loved it. We had a lot of hail. Solved that also.
Look up “baffle” in the search box.
There is mouse size and squirrel size.
If that’s true some hardwire cloth or metal flashing would protect it.
Noted.
Dennis,
Not picking on you, but you brought up the topic of ‘relocating’ nuisance squirrels. You may or may not know, but this is illegal in WA - and many other states.
Trapping nuisance wildlife | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Biologists do not recommend releasing wildlife outside their home range for the following reasons:
I bought a Squirrelinator trap last fall… caught a skunk in it the first night, but he had an unfortunate boating accident. Think I caught one young squirrel, then they decided that my year-old rancid pecans were not adequate bait.
Thanks Lucky,
Appreciate your post, these traps are made so that they would readily sink in water, but I personally do not care to unnecessarily kill squirrels so I suppose for me morality trumps legality. Sometimes life gives you no attractive options! I suppose that why God gave man dominion, something I have always wondered about !
Yep. It works. Just too slowly for my taste. I’ve come back to as many as 5 or 6 in it before but more often than not - nothing in it. Need to figure best bait! Walnuts dipped in peanut butter seem to get the attention. Almonds are popular - but whats the go to best ever? Also rats are an issue in my area.
I used sunflower seeds outside to attract local birds; the squirrels take their que from hearing the birds feeding. When they go to check things out, nothing better that some peanuts just inside far enough that they have to go inside to get one. Graham crackers also attract them. For rats I once used strychnine inside small meatballs, takes care of them pretty quickly, but you need to keep other animals and birds from access to it. So it takes some type of cover that rats will enter but larger animals cannot.
Strychnine is a white, odorless, bitter crystalline powder that can be taken by mouth, inhaled (breathed in), or mixed in a solution and given intravenously (injected directly into a vein) . Strychnine is a strong poison; only a small amount is needed to produce severe effects in people.
Dennis
