Squirrel Fecker-Offer Help

[JenniferCanesten]

Any ideas for repelling squirrels? The buggers just dig things up and chew off leaves for no reason, not to mention all the seeds they dug up and ate.

Anyone tried making a chili spray?

Shooting them works quite well. The problem is they are either hibernating or kittening and so you either don't see them or the next generation is already underway.

Mine are living on borrowed time too. I'll be watching this thread with interest. Was perusing air rifle websites the other night. Have chilli powdered the bird feeders before but it didn't put them off for long. Yesterday they dug up my newly planted chives. All other pots on the patio are netted - they hadn't bothered with the herbs before so caught me by surprise. Hate having to net everything as it's not how I want my patio to look! I swear they can smell new compost and therefore know it's nice and soft.

Ours will also come in the house if the doors are open. Once found a couple of them munching on a loaf of bread in the kitchen. Evil things.

My very eco and wildlife friendly PIL are shooting the ones that plague them, they have a barn where they store stuff and bird food - the squirrels have caused hundreds of pounds of damage and none of the non-lethal deterrents are working.

I would love to beat them to death with a bent trowel shoot them but not really practical where I live unfortunately. I guess I will have to get loads of netting. Every morning I'm replanting everything....fucker chewed the leaves off my new dwarf bean seedlings, for no reason, dug up the radishes, had a nibble, didn't like...

Was hoping some wise old owl would turn up and say, "Ah, what they really hate is the smell of foxgloves..." or something equally random but simple.

They've got in the flat before too, though not since we've had a baby thankfully.

Today I have replanted my baby chives a total of four times. After the second time I put a liberal application of cayenne pepper all over the compost. Five minutes later I replanted them again....then 30 minutes later, again. I may have put one off but there are hundreds of them. I swear the things are sitting in the trees watching me and laughing.

I have to replant my sweet peas pretty much daily as the bloody squirrels dig them up :( They're not as bad here as where I used to live but they're still really annoying. I can't bear to think of how much money I've spent on tulip bulbs that the sods have dug up and discarded

For bird feeders, I bought my dad one for Xmas from the RSPB that closes the food door if something too heavy (like a squirrel) stands on the perch. He says it works really well.

You need some chickens. Mine chase away any intruders - cats, squirrels, pigeons etc. But chickens are quite partial to juicy leaves too...