Best way to get rid of squirrels?
 

I've been sick with a cold over the past couple of days, and as such I haven't been outside to tend my small garden as often. I'm still sick, but went out to make sure nothing was dying or otherwise in need of help.

I discovered that squirrels had decided to start digging in my orchids. They've been pests already, digging in my potted plants, but never before have they bothered my orchids. Now it's utter war, because they tore up one of my cattleyas and shoved a peanut in its pot. That's right, a peanut - I live in an apartment complex, and my neighbor (who is a nice older fellow) loves feeding the little bastards...right in front of my apartment. I've chased them off physically, I've put cayenne pepper and coffee grounds in my pots (not with my orchids of course, I haven't had to before), I've done everything short of using a pellet gun.

What in the world can I do? I don't know if my little cattleya will survive the damage inflicted on it, and I would be devastated if they did this to one of my larger orchids. :( I don't have the room in the apartment to bring my orchids inside, and they certainly wouldn't get enough light if I did. This is really discouraging, because I had just made peace with them destroying my other potted plants, as long as they left the orchids alone, but now they're even bothering those. :_(

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Yeah, well to me, there's the problem right there.

Squirrels are cute at a distance, but when they threaten my plants, they are just rats with a furry tail.

This looks great! The only problem is it says that it bothers dogs - my neighbor has a dog, and our apartements are pretty close together, would this possibly pose a problem for his dog?

bil: Haha, I know, right? I've been too much of a softie up until now. I love animals, and my daughter likes to watch the squirrels running around on the tree outside, but I am not prepared to surrender my orchid collection to them.

The device is triggered only in the presence of human or animal body temperature. If nothing appears to trigger it is inactive.

Peanut butter, Ritz crackers, and rat poison. Make a day of it.

The only two solutions to the squirrel problem are complete exclusion and/or termination.

A very sturdy fence is needed; they chew through a lot of stuff.

Traps are recommended over poison because dying squirrels may be eaten by other predators such as hawks, falcons, dogs and cats.

Do you have a fenced yard? If so, adopt a dog, any dog. It does not need to be large. I suggest any dog with some dachshund or terrier in its heritage. The dog need not ever touch the squirrel; barking and chasing are enough to say "go away".

If you don't care for dogs, try a cat. Or a pellet gun.

A cup of coffee and a .22 rifle.

Afterwards you can tie their tails to your radio antenna.

Since she lives in an apartment complex and has a neighbor who feeds them, guns and traps probably are a "no". The neighbor has a dog so poison is out too. Maybe chicken wire and bird netting? Here is an article about this problem
https://bonnieplants.com/library/kee...of-the-garden/

OK then.
How about a cup of coffee and one of those "This house is guarded by Smith & Wesson" written in Squirrelish?

:biggrin:

Didn't see the apartment complex bit. Sort of rules out fence/dog. Chicken wire might work.

Poison is NEVER a good solution. Any animal can get into it and/or a non-offending animal could eat the dead one. Not good, not good at all.

I have no issues w/the gun solution but unless you're out in the country somewhere and it's permissible to fire a gun...that will likely get the police showing up at your door. In an apartment complex...probably not the wisest solution.

Dogs don't always work...I know this because even though I had 3 dogs that all loved to chase squirrels, I still had squirrel problems. We also have several feral cats running around and the squirrels basically laugh at them. With that said, we do feed them along w/the birds so I have a lot of them and I know it's my own doing. Personally, I get a kick out of watching the squirrels so I figure, for me, it's just part of the story of my growing plants outside.

The only true protection is making it impossible for the squirrels to get to the plants. A cage of sorts around them would work. I know someone who built enclosures for their orchids (wood frame w/chicken wire) so the squirrels couldn't get to them. I just deal w/the occasional mess. For me, the birds and chipmunks are more frequently messing w/the orchids than the squirrels. Carolina Wrens and Chickadees (the 2 I think are the cutest!) are the worst! Chipmunks bury things in the pots and pull out medium. Oh, and the Robins like to pluck off buds. I still haven't figured the Robin problem out...they pluck them off and drop them. Strange. Between critters and weather...Mother Nature can be brutal.

The predator urine type repellents are somewhat effective. Worth trying if you have few other choices.