How can i get rid of squirrels?

Question

I put a bird table in my garden but squirrels keep eating the food. I put a seperate pile ofo seed near where they live but they do not eat that, just go straight for the bird table. How can i stop them eating off the bird table without hurting them?

Answer 1

There is a spray that you could try. I tried it when I had the cute little devils and it helped. You should be able to find it at a store that specializes in Birds. The only other thing you might want to do is try the many bird feeders on the market that are squirrel proof.

rpaulster

Answer 2

get a live trap, get some bait and set the trap up. When you catch them, relocate them in a bushy area, preferbley away from any houses. You dont want them to have the same problem as you.

Answer 3

Use a live trap and relocate them.

Answer 4

get live traps and take those babies to another part of the world.

Answer 5

Call pest control

Answer 6

Anyone who has ever spent any time watching squirrels knows that behind that cute fluffy façade of innocence is pure contemplative evil. No matter how darling they seem, every little chitter they make and hop they take is part of their ultimate design for the destruction of you, your home and all of your possessions. And why not? There’s a vast squirrel army out there, and vast squirrel armies require vast squirrel empires. What the squirrels don’t realize, however, is that most of us are indeed smarter than they are. Smarter and more determined. These are the two traits that will ultimately win the war.



Besides the ground and the flying squirrel there are three major species that we battle in North America, the gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) and the red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). All three of which have a nasty habit of not only eating all your bird food, but also eating the feeders themselves. While that is far and away the largest complaint against them, it doesn’t stop there. Squirrels are also masters of setting up shop in your attic or in the soffits of your home. They also enjoy long walks on the beach and digging up your flowers and bulbs. They carry ticks and fleas that can be passed to your pets. They must be stopped. The following article will lend you some ideas on doing just that. It will not, however, cover the use of squirrel poison. Poisons have a tendency to leave rotting smelly squirrel carcasses in your attic and yard. Worse yet, live animals frequently eat dead ones. The last thing we want is the family pet getting sick or even dying because it ate a poisoned squirrel.

Squirrel Control at the Feeder    

Natural Squirrel Control

Feed safflower. Safflower seed is very common for backyard bird feeding. It is found in many blends and is a favorite of the cardinals. Chickadees, mourning doves and various finches are also glad to eat it. It does, however, have a somewhat bitter taste than many squirrels find unfavorable.

If you can’t beat them, feed them. Invest in some squirrel food. Squirrels love corn, peanuts or whatever else they can find. Whatever you get, go out in the yard and scatter it around. The squirrels will then spend most of the day rummaging in the grass searching for morsels instead of chilling on your feeder. You might also consider a squirrel feeder. Squirrel feeders should be placed lower to the ground (at least at first) so that the squirrels can find them easily. The Birdola Squirrel Kob Bungee is very popular and entertaining. A cob of corn is connected to a chain and a little bungee chord. This gives the squirrel his dinner and you a good chuckle.

Motion activated sprinklers. This is a good method for chasing off not only squirrels, but also deer, coons, cats, dogs and peeping toms. It does no real damage to any sort of critter and your grass and garden plants appreciate the water.

Strobe lights. Using strobe lights like the Squirrel Evictor in your attic or crawl space is safe, environment friendly, and just plain bugs the c**p out of squirrels. It’s irritating, disorienting and makes squirrels want to get the heck out.

Bring out the big guns. As long as it’s legal to do so where you live, grab a gun and pop a cap in his bushy ***. Game over. And the best part is… squirrel tastes like chicken. Seriously, it does.









Squirrel proof bird feeders. Usually, a good squirrel proof bird feeder is weight sensitive. Something as light as a few birds will have no effect. But once the weight of a squirrel hits it, the feeding ports are either closed or blocked off. Some are even designed to send the squirrel flying or give it a slight electric shock. Many come with a lifetime guarantee. Do yourself a favor and spend a little extra on a decent squirrel proof feeder. Anything by Droll Yankees, Brome Bird Care or Wild Bill’s is good. It doesn’t take very long for a squirrel to eat a hundred bucks worth of seed. These feeders pay for themselves in no time.  

Use a squirrel baffle. Squirrel Baffles are wonderful if used correctly. If on a pole, place the top of the baffle at least five feet from the ground or the squirrels will simply jump on top of them. Also be careful not to let your feeders hang below the top of the baffle. If your looking to hang your feeder from a baffle, make sure it is hung at least 10 feet away from the nearest squirrel launching pad (e.g. tree, tree trunk, bush, house, fence, shed, chair, post). Look for baffles by Erva, Arundale (Mandarin), Aspects and Droll Yankees.  

Placement of feeder/feeder pole. Squirrels are amazing jumpers. Place the feeder in a relatively open space. As mentioned above, put it at least ten feet from launching pads. If the squirrel is jumping from high to low, as from a tree, they can easily jump fifteen feet. So keep your eye on the sky and your feeder in the open. As long as there is shelter relatively nearby, the birds will still feel safe enough to come and visit.  

Sanitation. Keeping the joint clean is important. If there’s nothing for the squirrel to eat, there’s no reason for him to be there. Be diligent about raking up seeds and hulls from under feeders or use some sort of catch tray for underneath. Don’t leave any sort of food out. Squirrels will happily dine on pet chow, bread, fruits, drippings and scrapings from your grill, basically anything, which is also why it’s important to have a good tight fitting lid on your garbage can.  

Live trapping. Nothing works for squirrel removal like live trapping. Get yourself a good old Havahart Live Trap and get those squirrels outta town. As a little tike I helped my grandpa trap and relocate countless squirrels. We used many things for squirrel bait but never found anything quite as reliable as peanut butter. To keep the mess to a minimum, spread the peanut butter on a cracker or a small hunk of bread before placing it in the trap. For good instructions on live trapping check out the bottom section of Jonathan’s How to Get Rid of Rodents.  

Squirrel Repellents

It’s hard to keep squirrels from digging up your bulbs and flowers and from eating up your veggies without using a fence. And as long as you bury it a good 8-12 inches below ground (they can burrow), fencing works pretty well. Just make sure to use something with a small mesh such as hardware cloth. While this method works great for your veggies, it does make it a little harder to admire your flowers when you’re looking at them through a protective barrier. For this reason, many products have been developed to help deter the little devils.

Many squirrel repellents such as Squirrel Away and Scoot Squirrel rely on hot peppers such as cayenne, red and chili peppers. Ground white and black pepper are also common. These are frequently advertised as both additives for your bird food and as deterrents from forbidden spots. Many other products such as Shake Away and Squirrel B Gone rely on concentrated predator urine. The idea is simple: hungry killer fox = stay the heck away. These products are meant to be sprinkled, sprayed or hung around flower beds and other squirrel free zones. If you’re not a gardener and just want the tree rats to quit chewing on your stuff, find a bitter tasting gel or spray like Ro-pel. For any squirrel repellent make sure to read the directions carefully as it is sometimes necessary to reapply after a certain amount of time or after a rain.

Results from products like these can be quite varied. I make my living at a wild bird feeding store where people complain to me about squirrels at least 872 times a day. So needless to say, I hear many war stories from customers on squirrel pest control. Some people swear up and down about these deterrents and buy them over and over again while others tell me how “it didn’t work worth a d**n!” So while I think many of them are definitely worth a try, after all we work hard on our gardens and for our stuff, don’t be terribly surprised if you don’t get the results you were expecting.