Gee, I really feel bad for you. I grow trees and fight the squirrels for them also. I'm not sure why they like to chew trees in half, but you're right, they love it. For some reason they haven't been as bad this year as in past years. Although they did get the last of the wisteria vines I was growing out from last year, but I may be a little premature in saying anything since tomato season isn't here yet.

I've been going after them with the hose since last year, maybe it has actually helped, at least it has helped my frustration. Nothing funnier than seeing a squirrel almost fly out of my yard when I start squirting the hose at them. But I do have to be ready to go after them early in the morning, that's when they seem to do their worst damage.

Sorry, Philmont. I don't know what you can do. I never grow trees, (only self-sown ones everywhere), so I don't know. There must be something that repels them. You could try cayenne pepper, but you have to reapply it after rain.

Karen

Oh Philmont, I am so sorry about your trees. They were beauties and I know how happy they made you. I don't understand why they do that either. I have had minor damage from squirrels and I was so sick of them, so with the amount of damage you have suffered I imagine you are thoroughly sick of them by now.

I don't have a lot of experience in getting rid of them but for what it's worth, my ideas are:

grow your trees in one of those small cheap plastic greenhouses until they are large enough to plant out in the landscape.
When they are potted up in their gallon containers, maybe it would be okay to wrap the bark with some of that tree wrap to keep them from chewing them.
What about putting hot pepper a little soap and water in a spray container and spraying the seedlings so if they get in them they are not going to like the taste. You could also sprinkle hot pepper flakes all around the ground where your trees are to discourage them from going anywhere near them.
Lastly, I have seen automatic motion sensor sprinklers. If nothing else worked, I would invest in one of those. They sense the motion when the animal approaches and then starts shooting out a strong stream of water. Because you can't sit there all day watching your trees to get them with the hose.

I hope you have some trees left. Is there a chance you could pot up some new seeds and put them in the freezer and start them over?

Really sorry... :-(
pm2

Sorry to hear it Philmont. I'm at war with the tree rats too, and I'd say you have two options.

Get a good pellet rifle, and start shooting them. You can thin the population nicely, and scare off others. They're good eating, too. ;>)

Do what I'm doing, and build a pot ghetto to fend off the squirrels. If you completely enclose an area, be it a nursery bed, or a group of potted trees, with 1/2" hardware fabric, they won't be able to get in.

Following up on Donn's remark, I remember Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies serving up stewed squirrel on occasion!
We aren't allowed to kill them where we live, but we do fire frozen grapes (biodegradable + they HURT) with a slingshot at the little b*#$%@'s. (My brother's idea.)

So sorry to hear this, philmont. It really stinks. I don't grow trees, but I have a pretty bad squirrel problem. I do a lot of container gardening, and they just love to dig up my pots. Especially in the fall, and when I first pull them out in the spring. There are still piles of soil on my garage floor from where they dug up the pots over the winter.

I wish I had an idea or two for you. Keep your chin up!
:)
Dee

I think I felt the same way when squirrels went through my strawberry patch last year and literally picked every ripe strawberry, took one bite and then dropped it on the ground. I bought a have-a-hart trap, bated it with nuts and trapped them. I caught one or two a day and released them in a woods several miles away. That effectively prevented strawberry damage.

I hope you figure out a way to control those squirrels!

It's war! I hate those tree rats! How I feel for you. Bummer. We need a hawk or two. We can't kill them either, but it makes me feel rather vindicated when I see them squashed on the street. Can you trap them and relocate them ..say...miles away? We did that last year. They went into our attic. We trapped them and let them out in the forest preserve.

I don't understand why squirrels would be protected. People kill snakes all the time - and most of them are beneficial. What do squirrels do that helps anybody? They carry disease, they damage plants, and heaven help you if one gets in your house or garage! There are certainly plenty of them. So, what's the deal?

philmont? I have a dog cage that is closed on all sides. I wonder if you may want to look into something like that. It is metal and the nasty critters couldn't get in.
I have 4 dogs so no problem with squirrels. The couple we have had have ended up laying dead in the drive. But if I did share that problem I would put my pots in this cage. Best of luck. I feel for you.

Presence of cats or dogs running around while not a solution but some help. I am at war with those tree rats for years as well. We tried relocation program, it helps but those rats do migrate so new ones come. My advice for small trees- get those square tomato cages and wrap them with bird plastic netting. Usually I get it at any big box store and bird netting often sold 100x 7 feet for about $10-15.
I use that bird netting extensively for small srubs to protect from rabbits during winter months, since my cats do not like to be outside during the winter and rabbits do worst damage during February.
I also can see that squirrels do not go into well establised beds- read jungles- so keeping your beds full helps.

I just read that in Colorado they are finding squirrels dying from the plague. Have to admit to a macabre sense of satisfaction in that one...

:)
Dee

i would need lots of cages. i have literally around 200 trees in pots. i have one cage thats protecting my butternut tree but thats it. yeah and i dont think its fair that just because squirrels are cute they should be able to ravage everything when people can slaughter every snake they see because its "just a snake" i love snakes and wish there were more around here. i have 2 cats which are always outside. thats dosent seem to phase the squirrels a bit. and a few days ago i started using pee to get them away. i even did an experiment. i soaked some peanuts in pee and near and on an exposed american chestnut. came home yesterday, both eaten. I believe its like this: you cant stop them without physically removing them.

Philmont, have you tried Freecycles in your area? Post a request for cages or any items you need. People may offer you one or two at a time. The catch is the first time you post, you have to offer something before you ask for something.

I have been offering stuffs on Freecycles and received wonderful things for my garden. It's great for recycling instead of letting them go to landfills. :-)

FWIW, with my local freecycle, there is no need to offer anything before asking for something. That's a good idea, pitimpinai, to ask for cages on freecycle.

I just came in from the garden and noticed a recently planted pot of dwarf sunflowers all dug up by some stinking squirrel. Sheesh. As I replanted the survivors, all that was going through my mind was "a plague on you, heh, heh, heh!"

Dee

Phil,
I'm so sorry :-( Those were gorgeous seedlings.
I hope someone can come up with a solution for you. You can borrow my dog if you like (we don't have squirrels, but no rabbit lives long around my yard, not with her and one of our cats).

Linda

Phil
Email me for a solution.
Won't post it here.
Ron

I'll post mine Ron... :O) (You bad boy you!)

I feed the squirrels. Kind of made peace with them, and they haven't touched my gardens since I've started doing that. Doesn't costs much either and the chickadees and blue jays love the sunflower seeds too.

Of course, we've had a growing family of Hawks in the neighbourhood in the last couple of years which has helped keep the rat - er, squirrel population down a bit.

Oh, Ron, do you have anything for deers?

I need to send you my chocolate lab. He lives to kill squirrels. His nemesis would always climb up a willow before he could get it, so he learned to go out ahead of us very quietly on our way to the pond so he could sneak up on him. Got him ! Poor dog spent weeks afterward, looking up in the tree for the squirrel he had already terminated.

Carol

I love the squirrels and feed them during the lean times - very cheap. They never bother with a single thing in the garden. I reckon it helps that I'm surrounded on all four sides by cornfields.

Yesterday the squirrels dug out some of my potted begonia and dahlia bulbs as well as my ws baby impatiens. So today I put them all in one area inside a chicken wire circle with bird netting over the top.

For years I have done the same in my vegetable raised beds for peppers and strawberries to keep the deer from nibbling. The veg area has a chicken wire fence so no rabbit problem but deer jump right over the fence and into the raised beds.

I have used both hardware fabric and chicken wire and haven't noticed any difference in effectiveness so I go with the chicken wire as it is cheaper.

For my small circle of potted plants I just free formed a circle and used small willow poles to keep it in the ground.
Then draped the bird netting over the poles and added a few clothes pins to keep the netting in place.

The veg area has a permanent chicken wire fence with metal fencing poles. It is quite large and could easily hold 200
small trees in pots. I don't have netting over the whole area but think it could be done.

I remember how disappointed I was to find my first Japanese maple seedling in pieces. Feel for you, man.

Good luck on finding a solution that works for you.

Bobbie

Yesterday the squirrels dug out some of my potted begonia and dahlia bulbs as well as my ws baby impatiens. So today I put them all in one area inside a chicken wire circle with bird netting over the top.

For years I have done the same in my vegetable raised beds for peppers and strawberries to keep the deer from nibbling. The veg area has a chicken wire fence so no rabbit problem but deer jump right over the fence and into the raised beds.

I have used both hardware fabric and chicken wire and haven't noticed any difference in effectiveness so I go with the chicken wire as it is cheaper.

For my small circle of potted plants I just free formed a circle and used small willow poles to keep it in the ground.
Then draped the bird netting over the poles and added a few clothes pins to keep the netting in place.

The veg area has a permanent chicken wire fence with metal fencing poles. It is quite large and could easily hold 200
small trees in pots. I don't have netting over the whole area but think it could be done.

I remember how disappointed I was to find my first Japanese maple seedling in pieces. Feel for you, man.

Good luck on finding a solution that works for you.

Bobbie

Hi,

I have lots of squirrels in my yard due to large oak and maple trees and I've used a product called shake away. It works fairly well. I don't have anything to do with the company, but their website is:

http://www.critter-repellent.com/

Peaches