No solutions, unfortunately. I have the same problem with my peach tree. The squirrels don't even bother eating them. They just pull them off the tree and throw them on the ground. Or they just scratch up the ones still on the tree. Every day there are 5-10 ruined peaches on the ground under the tree.

Squirrels plague many of us, and there have been long discussions here about the best way to control them. You could do a search and come up with lots!

I would not mind poisoning them if I could be sure that only the squirrels got the poison, but lacking that I have taken to shooting them. Other solutions include mixing peanut butter and plaster of paris and making little balls of it for them to eat. It apparently kills them. There are devices for making snares (I would worry about catching my neighbor's cat.)

I have only had very little luck trapping them. Since it's illegal here to transport them I simply shoot them in the trap. Some people use dry ice to asphixiate them, or place the trap in a deep freeze (wrapped in a bag) until the squirrel freezes. Some drown them.

Nobody with a serious squirrel problem feels much regret at dispatching them. I try to be humane and quick, but ultimately I just want them gone. Shooting is a good way if it's doable where you are.

Good luck,

Mark

Years ago I had an avacado tree next to a walnut tree that housed a family of squirrels. Every day I watched them crawl across the telephone wires from their nest in the walnut to my maturing avacados. After my son climbed the avacado and hung a jointed wooden snake in their path they stopped visiting the tree, skidding to a cartoon stop when first encoutered! I think part of the trick was to hang the snake so that it would move in the wind and it probably helped that they had a specific route that they normally followed. Might be worth a try. The other solution short of shooting them that has been helpful for some is to get a Jack Russell Terrier. They can be as tenacious as the squirrels. Good luck.

http://www.kania.net/

Pellet gun:
+: lethal if you are a good shot and you have a decent 950+fps gun with a scope
-: need a good line of sight less than 50' away, with no neighbors in the way
+: can bait a good shooting spot with corn or nuts
-: squirrels like juicy peaches more than nuts

Peanut Butter and plaster of paris balls:
+: easy method to make and put out
-: doesn't seem to work for everyone
-: ants love 'em too
-: so do birds
+: no dispatch problems, its "now you see 'em now you don't".

Havahart traps
+: high-quality traps that do catch squirrels if properly baited and set
-: ants love the bait too and it will be gone in a few days
-: need to dispatch the squirrel once trapped
-: squirrels catch on to them so you'd better set them right!
+-: works if you get the large squirrel trap; iffy in the small squirrel trap

Squirrel snare pole (Google if you don't know what it is)
+: No need to bait (and rebait), just set and wait
+: Yes it works
+: No need to kill the poor guy, he's dead when you find him, and in an instant.
-: neighbors may not like the sight of squirrels hanging in a noose and swinging in the breeze
+: neighbors with gardens or orchards may shower you with thanks when they see squirrel hanging in noose.
-: The snare wires are hard to position correctly and can move in the wind/rain
+: no problem catching cats by the head, as long as you set the snare loops at 2-3" in diameter and 1" or less from the pole/limb

I am still working on my squirrel problem, I started too late this summer since none of my fruit was ripe yet: big mistake!! They are mostly under control now, with a combination of pellet gun, havahart trap, and squirrel snares. I only recently started using the snares so I don't have much experience with them. The fact that they are on a pole and have small nooses seems to all but rule out the possibility of catching a cat, but I'm not absolutely certain. The PB and PoP balls didn't seem to work at all for me and I don't know why.

Scott

i used haveahart traps this year with little success. I have probably trapped and relocated 10 squirrels this season so far. The squirrels have still managed to eat every single nectarine on a nectarine tree (about 30), and so far, every single peach (about 80) on a peach tree except for 4. I refuse to pick those last 4 peaches before they are ripe and most likely, a squirrel will eat them before I get to them. Many of the peaches and nectarines had those anklehose fruitbag thingies on them but the squirrels simply bit those off. Plus, it was a major pain in the neck driving a couple of miles to the nearest park to release the squirrels. It is so so incredibly frustrating looking out my bedroom window and seeing a squirrel happily sitting in my garden with one of my peaches in its mouth and gob. Unfortunately, shooting the squirrels with a BB gun is illegal in nyc.

strangely, the squirrels have never been interested in my strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, apples, or cucumbers. Just peaches and nectarines.

I have come to the reluctant concolusion that there is never going to be a victory against the squirrels. The best I am hoping for is enough of a victory that I get 20-30% of my peaches and nectarines. Next year I will try using 2 traps at a time, and I will have to supplement that with additional anti-squirrel methods. A couple of years back, I had one of those large eagle kites that seemed to work for a while before it broke. I will probably buy another of those next year to add to the traps. I will probably add the peanut butter/plaster balls as well (you can tell I'm gonna be going thru alot of peanut butter!)

Lychee, I also lost many hundreds of peaches this year. They also ate right through those ankle things. Last year I used heavier bags which took them longer but they still ate through them. I think you have a good idea to have multiple traps. I have three traps simultaneously set right now and a fourth loaned to a neighbor. I would also consider the squirrel poles as an additional dimension of attack. The snares are a lot cheaper than the traps as well. I have only one squirrel pole set now, but I bought enough snares to make a dozen poles.

Never Surrender!!

Scott

Scott's right. "Never surrender!!"

And thanks for the excellent summary.

By the way, there is an alternative trapping method that I'm told works very well but which I haven't tried yet. Farmers often use the small version for rats and mice, and I'll describe the small version first:

Thread a stout wire end-to-end through a beer can. Suspend the can over a bucket or old paint can. Put some peanut butter on the can where the mouse will have to climb onto the can to get it. He'll be dumped into the bucket, from which you can dispatch him.

I'm afraid a squirrel would require a garbage can or he'd escape- they are fiercely strong and determined, and can jump straight up at least a couple of feet. But once in the can it would be straightforward to drop in a chunk of dry ice or shoot him. I dislike the idea of filling the can with water to drown the squirrel but if I were around to kill it swiftly I wouldn't object to the idea of water in the bottom to prevent escape.

In the garbage can approach one replaces the wire with a thinnish broomstick and replaces the beer can with a length of PVC pipe or some such. The peanut butter is still recommended.

Even though I hunt and fish and am scarcely a vegetarian, I dislike the idea of letting an animal linger or being killed unnecessarily or accidently. Squirrels are testing that conviction, though!

Good luck all,

M

I don't even know if it's legal to kill squirrels here, but I know it's illegal to fire a weapon within city limits.

I don't care if they live or not, I just want them away from my peaches. I wonder if Liquid Fence or Hot Pepper Wax -- sprayed on the branches, not the fruit -- would help keep them away. It seems to help keep them away from my irises. I lost half a dozen iris rhizomes to them last winter, and I've probably lost a couple hundred peaches to them this year.

Would an inflatable snake IN the tree help? Or on the fence? (My peach tree is by the fence.)

Lilacs, the only place I know of where pellet guns are illegal is NYC. They are classified differently than guns with bullets. There is some move to reclassify them since pellet guns have gotten stronger over the years, but I have not heard of any new laws actually being passed. You do need to be very careful in using them, in particular making sure there is a backdrop you are shooting against. Our squirrels use the phone wires as their highway and I have to grind my teeth every time I see them there because they are not shootable there.

I found the hot pepper spray works for awhile if sprayed directly on the fruit, but the rain washes it away so you need to re-apply it. I doubt it would work on the limbs since I think the deterrent comes from the taste and not the smell. But you could always try. A snake in the tree I am somewhat doubtful about, all of the scares rely on not one squirrel braving it. Our cat was a great deterrent for awhile, but at one point I guess the squirrels got hungry enough and braved it and now the cat (who is an excellent hunter indeed) is not much of a deterrant. If the snake does work please let us know.

Scott

2 methods work for me: 1. electric fence (spiral wire around bottom 2 ft. of tree trunk, spaced about 2 in. from trunk). Have it on 3 apple and 3 plum trees.
2. Peanut butter mixed with rat poison (de-con). Gets mice and voles, too. Need to worry about neighborhood cats, however. I think if you place the stuff inside a plastic bottle with bottom cut off, cats cannot get at it but squirrels can.