Bloody squirrels!!!!

[Coldcoffeekindamorning]

I'm relatively new to gardening and just set up some raised beds in my garden. Had the soil delivered yesterday and filled them - woohoo! Woke up this morning and squirrels have obviously been digging in them (no plants in yet thankfully).

What can I do to protect my lovely vegetables when they go in????!!! Have I just wasted loads of money and now I will be forever caught in a constant battle with my little nemesis??? Help!!!!

Are you sure it's squirrels? They like to dig up tulip bulbs, and bury nuts and acorns. But foxes also like to dig. I found a mocassin buried in my veggie bed. Nobody in my house wears them😁

If it IS squirrels, laying prickly branches over the ground can help or chicken wire, or netting. Or sprinkling chilli powder around. Sometimes they give up pretty quickly if they don't find anything they like.

How do you know it was squirrels?

So I don't actually have proof its squirrels but they are always in my garden so just assumed so. We also have a fox that has a pathway through our garden and lots of cats lurking about...

The neighbouring cats dig up my plants to use veg/flower beds as a loo; never known squirrels digging

Our neighbours have got a walnut tree and we have to be hyper vigilant with the squirrels as they bury the walnuts in our pots/borders and before you know it there are walnut saplings appearing at a rate of knots! The mess from one of them is quite enough thanks.

Red or grey? If red, consider yourself honoured and fortunate. If grey, declare war.

We have had a huge squirrel population increase where I live and I have seen them digging. My DH saw one digging in a plant pot yesterday. They eat the bulbs but also bury them elsewhere so the daffodils etc might pop up in the neighbour's garden next year.

Grey!!!

Squirrels certainly steal my sweetcorn but I've never known them to dig up soil. If it was them then they will likely give up if they are not finding any food.

Have you seen them doing it? If not I would suspect cats are more likely.

Squirrels dig in my garden. They bury chestnuts in the autumn and then come back later to turn over the entire garden looking for their treasure. I’ve watched them. Someone has also stolen some tulip bulbs, and I don’t think it’s the cats.

I have a family of 8 greys and allotment in the garden. I’ve ever known them to dig up the beds.
Can I ask if you live in a rural area? I had a problem last year with veg being eaten only to find out I have a deer that comes in for what she thinks is a running buffet.

Good luck

Same here - I have never seen so many squirrels! We have had a rat explosion too.

They are mean city squirrels!

A fox dug up my newly planted pot and buried an empty cat food tin in there. The squirrels also dig but the foxes holes tend to be bigger. And the cat love bear soil for a poo and create a hole when burying the evidence. So there's a few suspects!

Just an update on last night...

After showing the said digging to friends, the consensus is that it may actually be the bloody fox. I covered the beds in a make shift chicken wire to stop it getting in over night and it worked! Now I need to think of a more permanent solution. A curved tunnel maybe? What's the best thing to make so I have access to tend the plants?

Squirrels repeatedly chewed through anything I put in the garden including electrical wires for the lights and paracord for the hammock. I gave up in the end.