I'm so sorry.

I moved to VA in 2002 - I thought life in CA was getting to be too much. I fully understand about those darned squirles (and moles and voles and mosquitoes and humidity, etc, etc).

I learned a hard lesson and came back home with my tail between my knees.

Never saw a squirrel around here eating tomatoes. They go after the birdseed every day and they'll attack a sunflower. Lord help them if they go near the tomatoes, I won't be held responsible for my actions if that happens. Squirrels eating tomatoes, humpf, grumpf, mumble, they better not.......

Very sorry.

I would not pull the plants. You have to remove all that have learned that your garden is their garden.

As soon as your squirrel season opens, extensively harvest then. The young ones are quite tasty fried, older squirrels might need simmering in gravy, some pressure cook em. I've heard they can be good BBQed but I'd think they would be very tuff.

The marauders shut me down twice for 2 weeks each a couple yrs. ago. No more. Last yr. not a single loss, nor this yr. yet.

Be safe, follow game laws, please harvest rather than exterminate but you have to reduce their numbers. Sooner is better.

And before any say the poor little critters were just hungry, or thirsty, we have several yr round bird feeders and bird baths. They just get a taste for toms especially and no other method will actually work.

Dave, I'm a country girl (or was many years ago) and have eaten my fair share of squirrel over the years. I've even done a bit of hunting, too. The problem here is the fact that it's illegal to discharge a firearm where I live due to the density of the population (of people, not squirrels.) I'd love to put the little tomato thieves in a stew pot for some brunswick stew but that's probably not going to happen. I'll just have to figure out a way to keep them out of the tomatoes next year. Maybe we'll have a hard winter and little oak mast to support them until next summer. The past winter was mild with lots of acorns... prime squirrel growing season.

I can't remember ever having a problem with squirrels eating the tomatoes until about 10 years ago. Does anybody else feel that way? Maybe it's because we had such a large garden that we didn't miss those that they ate, but when I started noticing them, we could sit and watch them tote the 'maters off and sit on the side of the garden to have a nibble. I hadn't seen that before. Now between the deer eating the tops out of the plants in the big garden and the squirrels feasting on the fruit in my small garden, we just won't have any this year. I have a friend who's having a banner year for toms and has agreed to trade some of hers for some of my cukes and peppers. I going to have to "cultivate" this friendship!

Sandy

The only way I've been able to keep squirrels out of the garden has been to make sure they are never hungry.

Squirrels in my backyard are trained to feed freely at the table-scrap bowl I give them. Once in a while they take a nibble in the garden, but not often.

Try a pellet gun. It is very quiet and unless you have a PETA nut as a neighbor no one will care. My neighborhood has literally been overrun with rabbits. They have dug up my front lawn, eaten the veggies, trashed the rose garden, created tunnels in all the bushes, and so on. After a neighbor and I commiserated for a while about the situation she asked if I wanted to borrow her son's pellet rifle. I said, "Yes". Well, I no longer have a rabbit problem. I told her the only reason I did not put poison out is that I did not want my neighbors animals getting into it or birds or other wildlife. But I will be damned if I am going to let the rabbits eat up my garden. There is simply no way. A thief is a thief and it is appropriate to deal with it in an appropriate manner. More and more I am acutally relying on my garden to provide food for myself and my family. There is no way I am going to let the wildlife take it from me. To me that is nature at its most normal conclusion. If I see them anywhere near the fence they are toast, that is just the way it is.

Tom

Squirrel rodents were winning here until I taught my teenage son to shoot a pellet rifle. He's a much better shot than I am. He can nail rabbit and squirrel rodents 100 feet away with ease. Before the rifle I tried for years every known remedy to discourage the rodents. They say that after humans destroy themselves rodents will still survive on this earth. Well, ok, but as long as I'm here I'm going to exercise my higher life form priviledge and defend my own little space on this planet...:)

Always remember the three S's...
Shoot
Shovel (bury the evidence)
Shut-up (I know nothing!)

I use 22 caliber "CB" sub-sonic rounds. A little more power than a pellet gun and no louder than a toy cap pistol (do they still make those?).

Unfortunately they got all my matters and damaged the plants too before I could thin them out. It's been an all out war ever since. I was up at 3am this morning to let a feral kitty out of the live trap. Him I want to keep around!

Sandy,

Here is what I've tried.

$20.00 Bobble head Owl, moved daily. We think Hooty is on the take :-)

Rubber Snakes, moved daily. Don't know what but something chews on em.

Human urine, placed around the plants. This may help since I've seen them very closely and carefully investigate the scent ring, just before they jump up onto the plant for the heist.

No idea how much time and money spent on poultry fabric contraptions but if there is any way in, they get in.

Fred,

The year I decided that harvest was the best option, we had a hen turkey nesting nearby and visiting the bird feeder off-fall daily. We put out cracked corn for her, which ofcourse the squirrels also enjoyed. After very limited success with the measures listed above and the fact being obvious that the squirrels were not hungry or thirsty, for me, it became an easy choice and it worked.

Medcave,

Anything designated as a game animal, I prefer to harvest rather than exterminate but I do sympathize with those in such densly populated areas that this may not be a viable option.

Were that my situation, I'd be calling animal control to see what other avenues were available.

I'm LOL at you guys! Thanks for helping me find the silver lining in this experience! I love the three S's... But I'd change that to Shoot, Stew, Savour... at least in the fall and early winter. In Virginia, I do know that farmers can get a permit to take an unlimited amount of wildlife out of season if they are damaging crops. That's especially aimed at deer. I wonder if I could get a permit to harvest squirrels because they're damaging my "crops." (Tongue in cheek!)

I guess I'll have to invest in a pellet gun. Haven't used anything like that since I was 6 or 7 when I graduated to a 22 rifle and my granddaddy's old single shot 410 shotgun. And I haven't seen a cap pistol in ages. My kids played with them but they have almost grown kids of their own now and I know that the grandchildren didn't have them. They'd probably get arrested (or worse!) if they were seen playing in somebody's front yard with cap guns.

Sandy

dave1mn2 wrote:
Anything designated as a game animal, I prefer to harvest rather than exterminate but I do sympathize with those in such densly populated areas that this may not be a viable option.

Of course. It's the law, in my state anyway. The carcass still needs to be buried, at the very least to prevent odors.

Of course you're correct that those in urban areas should call animal control. You are more likely to be messing with someone's "pet", and the chances of getting caught are too high. Fortunately I'm semi-rural and have my neighbor's full gratitude for keeping the population in check.

We brine ours overnight and chicken-fry up the next day, when possible. Freeze for later otherwise. Yum!

I can't believe people actually eat squirrels. I thought it was a myth. lol

To me, that's akin to eating rats. Yuk.

Squirrels, raccoons, (some people ate oppossums but my Mom wouldn't cook the nasty smelling things in the house), frog legs, Bambi, Thumper, just about anything that crawls, walks, swims, or flies is eaten by somebody. It's all in cultural perceptions. Some societies consider horse meat a great delicacy while we cringe at the thought. Others eat cat and dog meat and we think they're being cruel to pets. And there are others who consider us sacriligious for eating cows. Different strokes for different folks. And squirrels are delicious if field dressed properly and cooked by somebody with a minimum of skill. No, they don't taste like chicken.

I've eaten all the typical American meats along with rabbit, squirrel, deer, elk, buffalo, frog legs, pheasant, duck, dove, quail, many varieties of water creatures, and probably others that I can't remember right now. The only one of those I won't eat again is frog legs. And that's the only one I can't make myself "dress" out. I guess if I was hungry enough....

Sandy

You guys are actually making me hungry for squirrel ? Does it taste like chicken?

I've had more minor squirrel problems with my tomatoes and apple tree and found scattering peanuts in the shell in the backyard slowed them down.

I'm with you Holly, I've lived in a big city all of my life and never realized people actually eat squirrels. You all are welcome to come to my yard and take them all home with you and cook em if you want!

And people in the city PAY to eat a sliver of raw fish wrapped up with rice and seaweed. Go figure. It sure is nice that we aren't all the same.

I once visited a lady who had built a walk-in "slathouse" and enclosed it in chicken wire so she could get tomatoes despite the squirrels in a majestic old oak in her yard. It solved other problems, and she found she could cover it partially with plastic for a head start in spring. It's an excellent long term solution.

I live in a rural area and have been doing battle with the woodchucks for years. I hadn't seen one in over 4 years but the other night lo and behold I spotted a big fat one out in the yard.

I headed for the gun closet, grabbed a 410 shotgun and some birdshot. I managed to sneak up close enough to the critter to see his eyes. Needless to say I shot and buried him.

Did I mention I live across the road from the police department????

Cops: "Oh that's just Moose shooting up the varmints again!"

Folks in the country are used to hearing gun shots so it's no big deal. A few years ago the County imposed the "ten acre rule" on our un-incorporated town. So no shooting of any kind unless you have 10 or more acres.

Now it's rare to hear a gunshot. It still wouldn't be a problem with most folks, but this is also a resort community so there are lots of out-of-towners here in the summer that likely aren't used to gun play. I've adapted by doing most of my varmint thinning around the 4th of July when my 22 sounds like just another firecracker. :)

How about a dog? I have 2, and no squirrels, rabbits, etc dare venture into my yard. Well - a couple not so smart creatures have - but my boys took care of them before they made it near the garden. They are buried behind the shed.

This year I tried Repels All (from lowes) a granule you sprinkle on the permiters. For the first time I can remember, I lost no one tomato to any bird or squirrel (or rabbit). Might give it a shot.

And people in the city PAY to eat a sliver of raw fish wrapped up with rice and seaweed. Go figure. It sure is nice that we aren't all the same.

I find that as revolting as you do! I hate fish.

Sandy Thanks for starting this thread! Sorry about your squirrel problem however, this thread is entertaining. I'm a city gal who moved to the country ten years ago. My GOSH how could I have ever stood a big city.
Anyways, you brought back fond memories of my father who long gone to meet his maker. He used to hunt rabbits and squirrels and then nail them on the outside of the garage (in the city) by the feet while he cleaned them. That's probably illegal now. Dad hope you're smiling at us all.
God Bless

Sudzy, my dad would let us kids "help" him pluck birds and then he'd clean them in the fallow section of the garden, leaving the innards there for whatever critters came in the night and to fertilize the field (which the following year would grow tomatoes. See? We're still on topic! LOL.) Fish cleanings went there, too, unless it was a large number of fish and those went down to the woods for disposal. I can't imagine cleaning squirrels and rabbits on the garage wall in the city with nothing to do with the entrails except put them in the garbage. Seems like a waste. But when you're in the city, I guess there's nothing else to do.

Can you imagine most of today's kids cleaning dead animals for dinner? LOL Only if it was a video game!

Sandy

Yeah, I have many fond memories of going rabbit and squirrel hunting with my Grandfather and his beagle, Pixie.

The first time Pixie kicked up a rabbit I started to chase after them but GF grabbed me and said "Wait right here, they'll be back." Sure enough that rabbit came running back down the trail with Pixie hot on her tail, and GF rolled the rabbit with his shotgun.

Next time we went hunting GF had his 22 rifle and Pixie would spot the squirrel in the tree and when it would run to the other side of the tree, Pixie would go around the other side and bark until it came back to our side so GF could get a shot.

I thought Pixie was the smartest dog in the world! I asked GF how Pixie knew when we were rabbit hunting or squirrel hunting since she always knew what to do even though he carried a different gun. He just laughed and said "She just does."

Years later I figured out GF knew where the rabbits and squirrels could be found and he would take us to that particular area of the farm. The dog was just responding to the game that was presented to us. And it wasn't the dog that was smart enough to chase the rabbit back to us, that's just what rabbits do to get back to their hole. :)

BTW He used the telephone pole to do all his skinning off of. I use a mesquite tree. ;)