These are my methods...Dog, pellet gun, sling-shot.

Hang mothballs in foot-long lengths of knee-high nylon hose in several places around the tree, especially near the heaviest clusters of fruit. Also sprinkle a few around the base of the tree
The key is to start early, while the fruit is still tiny and before the squirrels know it's food. Rreplenish it every 3-4 weeks, when the mothballs get small"
There is also an angle on the BRAND of mothballs.
"I meant to mention that I've tried 3 brands of mothballs and, believe it or not, there's a difference. I found that Enoz brand, which Walgreen's carries, has the most potent smell and also lasts the longest"
The website below is where I found this info

Some Advice on Squirrels

put a small paper bag over it and loosely tie the end over the branch.

that should detract them unless they knw where to go already.

Gun...or poison if there are no pets around.

:(

if you want to be humane you can purchase a net (i know this works for lychees and bats)

also the link below has a product ive heard good results for trying to keep human pests at bay as well

this way you dont have to do guard duty shifts.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scarecrow motion activated sprinkler

Some really great posts......thanks. But, unfortuantley, my squirrels will continue to eat very well. I have dogs. They keep the sqirrels on their toes and every so often catch one. Because of the number of trees and size of the property, I can't really hang moth balls, set up motion detector sprinklers, or shoot or poison anything. I do have a nesting pair of large hawks that will take a squirrel every now and again. The greatest squirrel control I have is the street in front of my house. The neighborhood squirrels have to cross to get to their feast at my house. They get hit by cars while crossing at least a couple every other month. Unfortunately, there are more than enough other squirrels to come and chew up my fruits despite all of this. Afraid I will always have to just share with the darn bushy tailed tree rats.

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/gamo-whisper-air-rifle.shtml

and these:
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/Beeman_Kodiak_Extra_Heavy_177_Cal_10_6_Grains_Pointed_500ct/296

-absolutely devastating.

u could trap them and relocate. I did this when they were hitting my apple trees, that were in plastic baggies. I just baited them and would get them all the time. Now they live in a new area, with new squirrel friends, close to the water and out of my hair.

Illegal to relocate in most states Frank.

I remember having squirrel gumbo as a kid during a trip to La. Sounds bad, but it tasted good. When they come frequently to clean out my bird feeder and my weak BB gun doesn't make them stay away, my 1000 fps pellet gun makes them into fertilizer. I have no patience for an animal that will ruin a whole tree of fruit at one time.

Gary

Jay,
I never knew that moving them was illegal. I know that people in New York will do that with rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks. My biggest enemy is the rabbit and woodchuck. My parents brought me a ponderosa lemon tree from Myrtle Beach. I put it outdoors because the weather was good, and the next day my nice lil lemon tree was a stub! Damn rabbits ate it thorns and all!
Andrew

Yes Andrew...in most, if not all states, trapping and relocating an animal is a big no-no. Sure, people do it but if you were to get caught doing it... There are lots of arguments for and against killing the darn things. But like Gary above says, I too..."have no patience for an animal that will ruin a whole tree of fruit at one time." I already go thru extraordinary measures trying to protect trees and plants in the garden.

My mother-in-law's maprangs were loaded until squirrels just recently wiped them out. She even spent time wrapping the fruit. Unfortunately, being the good Buddhist that she is, she refuses to kill the pests. I have no such issues.

if i were to shoot a gun on my property i would be surrounded by Broward Police and helicopters, lol.

i havent seen many squirrels around here (they are all over in NY) but i guess all it takes is one to find your stash and they remember

hopefully my dog will deter them when i get fruit. i suppose im a "not so good" Buddhist but still have a conscious objection to killing anything.

I'm lucky enough to be in a semi-rural area on 1.5 acres. I love wildlife and have planted an enormous amount of native plants that supply food for wildlife. But like I said, if after several tries with my weak bb gun which puts a sting on it, and it refuses to learn. I won't allow a tree load of mangos, peaches, plums to disappear. If it stays on my outer property and uses my native trees, no problem. My rabbits aren't much of a problem here. A short fence around my veggie garden keeps them out of it. I get marsh rabbits and eastern cottontails. Birds are what I really try to attract, I get tons.

Gary

dhhays, I was thinking about getting a bb gun this spring.
They destroy just about everything ~ my container-grown plants, newly-planted seedlings and just about anything that has dirt. And it doesn't help that a neighbor freely distributes peanuts on a regular basis.
I have found out they don't like hot pepper flakes. For now, this seems to help deter their efforts. But I sure would like to get a bb gun soon.

~Bo

I am going to go the BB gun route this year. They took out over half of my developing mangoes before I was able to protect the rest of the fruit. They also seem to have taken a liking to digging up my blueberries in my new raised bed.

*dghays ~ sorry for the misspell.

jsvand5 ~ Yes! They love digging up just about anything that has dirt in it. I am sorry to hear they took out half your developing mangoes. Hopefully, the bb gun will help deter their efforts this year!

~Bo

My weak bb gun was only $27 at walmart. My .177 pellet gun shoots 1000 FPS, a Gamo shadow 1000, a really nice gun, very accurate, from basspro.com squirrels are just too persistent and destructive.

Gary

The problem with "neighborhood squirrels" is the have no fear of or respect for, man. They chew telephone wires, destroy fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as camellias and the like. I have killed literally, scores of them over the last two years....that and my Vizsla all purpose hunting dog keep them out of my yard now 99% of the time. The songbirds are another matter altogether...they are welcome ( somewhat) to my offerings...I don't shoot them anyway!