Author Topic: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)  (Read 18908 times)

WhitH

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #25 on: May 23, 2012, 02:41:07 PM »
I have read that sprinklering cayane pepper powder around your yard will drive them nuts. Squirrels as they move forward into your territory use their smelling power and nose! pepper gets to their noses and you will see then hurl off quick.

Does not hurt to try. keep some handy at all times, out of areas where kids play, and its cheap.

For my heirloom tomatoes, I got poison wheet, as tomatoes get big, I put wheet in a tamperproof box (to keep kids and dogs away). Its funny, last week when I went to refill the box, I found Acorn inside it. Poor thing had left behind its Acorn in preference for poisoned wheet! Yikes! God bless that one!

I think this evening I might go sprinkle some cayenne pepper directly onto the mangos in my trees. They are close to being ripe and the squirrels are making me more and more nervous. Recently they've been devastating my Jamaica cherry tree (Muntingia calabura). My mango trees are small so the fruits are within easy reach. I'll also hang a couple ammonia-soaked rags from the tree. Lysol is ammonia, right? the problem is the Lysol I have at home is lemon scented - might actually draw the squirrels in, haha.

MangoFang

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #26 on: May 23, 2012, 03:29:19 PM »
...this has been an UBER hilarious string!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of you guys are VERY FUNNY.... ;D :o ;D :o




MangoDog

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #27 on: May 23, 2012, 03:55:38 PM »
2 Glenn's destroyed this afternoon.  I haven't even had one yet...

Death to Squirrel !!

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #28 on: May 23, 2012, 05:27:03 PM »
I have read that sprinklering cayane pepper powder around your yard will drive them nuts. Squirrels as they move forward into your territory use their smelling power and nose! pepper gets to their noses and you will see then hurl off quick.

Does not hurt to try. keep some handy at all times, out of areas where kids play, and its cheap.

For my heirloom tomatoes, I got poison wheet, as tomatoes get big, I put wheet in a tamperproof box (to keep kids and dogs away). Its funny, last week when I went to refill the box, I found Acorn inside it. Poor thing had left behind its Acorn in preference for poisoned wheet! Yikes! God bless that one!

I think this evening I might go sprinkle some cayenne pepper directly onto the mangos in my trees. They are close to being ripe and the squirrels are making me more and more nervous. Recently they've been devastating my Jamaica cherry tree (Muntingia calabura). My mango trees are small so the fruits are within easy reach. I'll also hang a couple ammonia-soaked rags from the tree. Lysol is ammonia, right? the problem is the Lysol I have at home is lemon scented - might actually draw the squirrels in, haha.

Spraying chili juice on the fruits might be more effective. Might be hard to get the powder to stick fully to the fruit. Lysol is different than ammonia. Good luck with Chip and Dale, the pesty squirrels.
Oscar

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #29 on: May 23, 2012, 05:46:07 PM »
Oscar, red chilli power is effective when dry, so when Squirrels sniff, powder gets into them hard. If chilli powder is stuck on mangoes, they will bite the mango and destroy it!  Just sprinkle 3' around the trunk and see if it works.

CoPlantNut

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #30 on: May 23, 2012, 06:31:39 PM »
I have read that sprinklering cayane pepper powder around your yard will drive them nuts. Squirrels as they move forward into your territory use their smelling power and nose! pepper gets to their noses and you will see then hurl off quick.

Does not hurt to try. keep some handy at all times, out of areas where kids play, and its cheap.

For my heirloom tomatoes, I got poison wheet, as tomatoes get big, I put wheet in a tamperproof box (to keep kids and dogs away). Its funny, last week when I went to refill the box, I found Acorn inside it. Poor thing had left behind its Acorn in preference for poisoned wheet! Yikes! God bless that one!

I think this evening I might go sprinkle some cayenne pepper directly onto the mangos in my trees. They are close to being ripe and the squirrels are making me more and more nervous. Recently they've been devastating my Jamaica cherry tree (Muntingia calabura). My mango trees are small so the fruits are within easy reach. I'll also hang a couple ammonia-soaked rags from the tree. Lysol is ammonia, right? the problem is the Lysol I have at home is lemon scented - might actually draw the squirrels in, haha.

Lysol is not ammonia; cheap ($6 / gallon) ammonia is usually available at supermarkets.  Ammonia is pure nitrogen fertilizer for plants, so I would not recommend putting any directly on the plants or you'll over-fertilize and poison them quickly.  I usually take an old rag, wrap it around a large rock to prevent wind from blowing it away, and put that in a plastic container, then pour 1/4 cup of ammonia on the rag, and place the container near your plants.  3 such containers seem to keep raccoons out of my 50'x100' back yard, as long as I remember to add a little more ammonia every couple days.  I do make sure to not let rain overflow the containers, as pouring ammonia on the ground will poison anything with roots there.

Hot pepper powder works OK until it blows away, which is a constant problem in Colorado.  I've also accidentally disturbed and subsequently inhaled hot pepper powder I put out for the critters before; that isn't pleasant on the eyes, nose, throat or lungs.

Hot pepper juice applied to things will still aggravate the squirrels and make them leave; it gets through the skin on their paws even if they don't eat anything it has been sprayed on.  Rain washes it off though and it requires re-application.  I make my own by throwing some habanero peppers in a blender with a little water (DO NOT INHALE THE FUMES FROM THIS!  I would suggest doing it outside) and straining the result.  You can add vinegar as a preservative so it doesn't spoil while you're waiting to use it.  If you get any juice on your skin, you'll experience the same sensation the squirrels will, so be careful!  I still think it is safer than poisons though.

But even better than applying the hot pepper powder or juice to your plants or yard is to apply it directly to the offending rodents.  I used to spray my fence with pepper juice and it would work for 2-3 weeks to keep squirrels out, but after spraying it directly on a squirrel or two, they and their friends seem to stay away from my yard for months.

   Kevin


WhitH

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #31 on: May 23, 2012, 09:16:27 PM »
CoPlantNut and the others who wrote, thanks for the Lysol clarification and other tips. I just bought a jug of ammonia at the dollar store - lemon scented is all they had  ;D. I'm sure the drug stores and home improvement would have plain ammonia. After opening the container, though, the ammonia smell is so strong that i don't think any lemon smell is going to hurt the effectiveness.

Guanabanus

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #32 on: May 23, 2012, 10:44:25 PM »
Old Man Zill (Lawrence) mixed cement powder with peanut butter--- permanent stopper.

For crows, he shot the first one at the lychee tree, dangled it on a string from a bamboo, and ran the bamboo up the middle of the tallest lychee till the bamboo tip was half a dozen feet above the canopy.  apparently all the crows were smart enough to get the message.
Har

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #33 on: May 23, 2012, 10:47:44 PM »
A roof rat or a pack rat, I'm not sure, apparently starves at night while Dona Quixote de la Mancha is on the prowl, but it comes out in broad daylight--- I've seen it at 1 PM--- when the cat is napping.
Har

WhitH

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #34 on: May 24, 2012, 10:56:39 AM »
Old Man Zill (Lawrence) mixed cement powder with peanut butter--- permanent stopper.

For crows, he shot the first one at the lychee tree, dangled it on a string from a bamboo, and ran the bamboo up the middle of the tallest lychee till the bamboo tip was half a dozen feet above the canopy.  apparently all the crows were smart enough to get the message.

Interesting about the peanut butter and cement powder. One reason why I've never used traditional poisons is because I wouldn't want to kill/harming the scavengers which might eat the poisoned squirrel. I wonder if this type of "poison" might be less likely to harm scavengers. don't suppose they would ingest a lump of cement, unless maybe it was a big scavenger...  I don't see birds eating that though.

FloridaGreenMan

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #35 on: May 25, 2012, 09:17:35 PM »
My new bumper sticker.....I love Squirrels....DEAD Squirrels !
FloridaGreenMan

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #36 on: May 26, 2012, 01:00:33 AM »



 ;D
Alexi

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #37 on: May 26, 2012, 05:15:43 PM »
I have a 17 month old Bih Jolokia pepper bush that I first started as a novelty.  Been seeing a lot of critters around lately -- squirrels, armadillos and racoons.  And the mangos will start to ripen soon - Pickering, Glenn, NDM.  The Lula Avocado will flower soon also.  Gonna get a dedicated coffee grinder and start making ASPJ -- anti squirrel pepper juice.  Have an  old sprayer I can modify to spray a thick slurry by drilling out the brass nozzel.  The Bih Jolokia is rated hot at 1,000,000 Scoville units.   Think it will take their breath away?

DEATH TO SQUIRRELS, et al


« Last Edit: May 28, 2012, 12:57:53 AM by Bananimal »
Dan

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #38 on: May 26, 2012, 05:24:52 PM »
Bananimal my Bhut jolokias are also covered in chillis but they are just so 2009 vintage.I got butch T's growing and now moruga scorpions because 2 million scovilles is what you need now to be a happenin' dude on the chilli front.I tried jolokia juice on my avos to stop giant white tailed rats and they are still laughing at my futile attempt.Birds eat my jolokias but humans cannot

SWRancher

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #39 on: May 26, 2012, 06:27:20 PM »
Recently I have started losing a couple mangos daily to what I thought was a new squirrel with an affinity for mango. After watching the tree being raided, I caught the thief...it's a bluejay thats raiding my rosigold mango tree. I ended up picking most of the fruit still on the tree and enclosed the rest in plastic claimshells to hopefully protect them from the Bluejay. 

Bananimal

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #40 on: May 28, 2012, 01:04:54 AM »
Just harvested another round of ASPJ ammunition from the old Bih Jolokia bush.




DEATH TO SQUIRRELS!
Dan

bsbullie

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #41 on: May 28, 2012, 01:44:19 AM »
I have a 17 month old Bih Jolokia pepper bush that I first started as a novelty.  Been seeing a lot of critters around lately -- squirrels, armadillos and racoons.  And the mangos will start to ripen soon - Pickering, Glenn, NDM.  The Lula Avocado will flower soon also.  Gonna get a dedicated coffee grinder and start making ASPJ -- anti squirrel pepper juice.  Have an  old sprayer I can modify to spray a thick slurry by drilling out the brass nozzel.  The Bih Jolokia is rated hot at 1,000,000 Scoville units.   Think it will take their breath away?

DEATH TO SQUIRRELS, et al



A little off topic here...don't know where you are located but the Lulas I have seen in Palm Beach County have well surpassed the flowering stage and already have small fruits hanging from them.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2012, 09:43:23 PM by bsbullie »
- Rob

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #42 on: May 28, 2012, 09:33:23 PM »
Rob ---- I'm in Port St Lucie and the Lula is just starting to push new leaves and then infloresences - I hope.  We have been so much drier than you folks in PBC, BC and MDC.  When you guys down there get rain I get nothing.  More often than seems likely.  Like today ---  that big green blob that came off the lake at 4PM heading east parted just before I 95 and we did not get a drop.   It's as if lake O acts like a wind shield for the rain clouds.   Amazing!
Dan

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #43 on: May 28, 2012, 09:39:02 PM »
Protective measures for squirrels and critters;

Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #44 on: May 28, 2012, 09:44:51 PM »
Rob ---- I'm in Port St Lucie and the Lula is just starting to push new leaves and then infloresences - I hope.  We have been so much drier than you folks in PBC, BC and MDC.  When you guys down there get rain I get nothing.  More often than seems likely.  Like today ---  that big green blob that came off the lake at 4PM heading east parted just before I 95 and we did not get a drop.   It's as if lake O acts like a wind shield for the rain clouds.   Amazing!
When did you harvest your Lulas last season ?  While we may have been wetter than you, you have been warmer than us.
- Rob

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #45 on: May 29, 2012, 01:57:00 AM »
i put outa ton more tangle foot on my trees and around my yard and it seems to be working havent really seen a squirrel in my yard in days while  normally see about 15 a day

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #46 on: May 29, 2012, 06:54:35 AM »
Rob ---- I'm in Port St Lucie and the Lula is just starting to push new leaves and then infloresences - I hope.  We have been so much drier than you folks in PBC, BC and MDC.  When you guys down there get rain I get nothing.  More often than seems likely.  Like today ---  that big green blob that came off the lake at 4PM heading east parted just before I 95 and we did not get a drop.   It's as if lake O acts like a wind shield for the rain clouds.   Amazing!
When did you harvest your Lulas last season ?  While we may have been wetter than you, you have been warmer than us.
Started picking fruit late July and the last of them in Sept.  Tree was in 45 gal pot and is in ground now 2.5 years.  Many dropped off early and didn't attain full size like the first year.   Also didn't get a lot of attention.

Dan
« Last Edit: May 29, 2012, 06:56:29 AM by Bananimal »
Dan

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Re: my latest efforts to ward off squirrels (pics)
« Reply #47 on: May 29, 2012, 08:04:26 AM »
Rob ---- I'm in Port St Lucie and the Lula is just starting to push new leaves and then infloresences - I hope.  We have been so much drier than you folks in PBC, BC and MDC.  When you guys down there get rain I get nothing.  More often than seems likely.  Like today ---  that big green blob that came off the lake at 4PM heading east parted just before I 95 and we did not get a drop.   It's as if lake O acts like a wind shield for the rain clouds.   Amazing!
When did you harvest your Lulas last season ?  While we may have been wetter than you, you have been warmer than us.
Started picking fruit late July and the last of them in Sept.  Tree was in 45 gal pot and is in ground now 2.5 years.  Many dropped off early and didn't attain full size like the first year.   Also didn't get a lot of attention.

Dan
That timing is strange since Lula is a late season avocado, Nov thru Jan give or take.
- Rob