You might look at what your legal options are. In urban areas, it's often illegal to kill squirrels. Yeah, you can kill rats, but not "tree rats". I have found that urban squirrels are completely immune to attempts to scare them, with menacing figures or smells. They're da' boss in da' hood, see? And they know all the tricks.

For many years, I have trapped and relocated. Takes some time and effort. I remove about ten every year. You might just assume that it's like bailing the ocean. But squirrels seem to relocate yearly, so if you remove them in the spring, the area won't get repopulated until next spring. At least that's what happens where I am. So it actually works. I used to think my main problem was squirrels, but a large part of it is really coons and possums. Same strategy for them.

Thanks, that's pretty much what I figured. I am in an subdivision and it's ok to kill nuisance squirrels but no one can give a good definition of nuisance,,, I say they are but my neighbor across the street who feeds them disagrees. Thanks for the info and I will look into some traps to relocate!

You could look up the legal definition, but I'd say if they are a nuisance to you, you're the one who can dispatch them. Relocation isn't trivial. Again, local regulations pertain. Where I am, it is illegal to dump wild animals on private property, without permission. Also, the rule of thumb is that a distance of two miles is smart to prevent them from finding their way back. If you want to be nice, drop them off in a habitat that isn't that different. My squirrels are riparian, so I drop them off at a public riparian site.

Havahart traps are pretty good, and as long as your squirrels aren't enormous, the medium size will do the trick. A smear of peanut butter is terrific bait.

Have you considered a dog? You have a neighbor who feeds them? That's going to bear on repopulation.

Squirrelinator.

https://squirrelinator.com/

FWC link about nuisance animals.

https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/faqs-nuisance-wildlife/

you could use low tunnels on your growing beds.

I had never heard of the Squirrelinator. Nice! I think it's pretty new. Supposed to be able to trap multiple squirrels. That would be efficient. But what I don't understand is if the first squirrel eats the bait, what attracts the other ones?

So you think that after killing squirrels, others will move in? Eventually, that's certainly true. But if you feed them instead, they'll stay around AND others will move in. Feeding wildlife just makes for MORE wildlife.

Encourage hawks to move in, how one does that I don't know but they do a good job here. Squirrels get thru my solar ele fence with ease so that's no help. Hav-a-heart traps work but that just moves the problem elsewhere. I don't want to post my best solution but all I'll say about that is that it's a pellet that the squirrel doesn't eat.

I have barred owls aplenty, and I pray that they dine on squirrels. But they rarely do. They seem to like small birds and lizards. Trapping and relocating doesn't move MY problem elsewhere. It eliminates it. Perhaps it becomes someone else's problem.

I believe in Live and Let Live. Squirrels do serve some function in our ecosystem although I'll admit I have no idea what it is.

I also let the little guys eat all the birdfeed and small critter feed they want. IMO, they're hungry too. The birds still get plenty as I have 5 or 6 feeders going on

my farm at all times. I can't understand how someone can hate squirrels and actually

want to kill them. They're part of the chain of life and serve some purpose even if you don't see it.

Squirrels eat bird eggs and even young birds. They aren't as bad as raccoons in this respect, but they will reduce bird populations in your area if there are many of them around. Part of the "chain of life" in urban and even suburban ares is that there are fewer predators of squirrels around, so they tend to multiply. In the wild raccoons are a major predator. They eat baby squirrels and they love eating the eggs. Also, there are bobcats and more coyotes in wild areas--both are major predators of squirrels. Hawks will come to suburban and even urban areas, but still they prefer wild areas where there is more to prey upon--although I know that bird feeders and more birds tend to attract more hawks.

Yes, I don't particularly want to kill squirrels either. My philosophy is Live and Let Live ... somewhere else. They eat my melons and also all my birdseed. I've seen them snacking on tomatoes. I am happy, however, to have them gobble up my acorns.

With regard to the role of squirrels in the *urban* ecosystem, let me offer some thoughts. There are research papers that have been published on exactly this. First of all, unlike many species, squirrels are very adaptable, and tolerate urbanization extremely well. The population density of squirrels in the urban environment can be a hundred times that in rural areas. So the population of squirrels in an urban environment is likely to be very unnatural. The reason for this is supplementary food sources from humans, and greatly decreased predation pressure. Squirrels can be important in the diets of bird and mammal predators, but in urban environments, those predators are usually greatly reduced. Not a lot of coyotes around. In fact, overpopulation of squirrels is usually a factor in their population health. In rural environments, squirrels play an important role in seed dispersal. This is not the case in urban environments. I might not want a tree in the middle of my lawn. Squirrels do raid eggs from bird nests, so they have an impact on bird populations. They can be vectors for disease. I think the bottom line is that urban squirrels do play a role in local ecology, but they greatly outnumber what one might require for value. There have been eradication programs in several large parks around the world, and by far the greatest effect has been the emotional impact on residents who love them.

One can reach the same conclusions for rats. They don't have fuzzy tails, but they are kinda cute.

We have a couple of red-shouldered hawks around here that seem to keep the squirrel population at bay. Sadly, they also eat birds, and the ducks have to protect the babies from them, but that's nature. Since the Muscovy ducks are nasty and aggressive multiply like rabbits, it's o.k. with me if the hawks get a few.

I think I have 3 squirrels right now that eat in my yard, one in each of my large trees. I used to have a little one-eyed squirrel in the big Chinquapin oak, and the maintenance guy said he'd been here for many years. I never saw him again after Irma, which has made me very sad. He was almost tame. He would come within a foot or two of you to eat. My new squirrels will come chatter on the fence, but they won't come down to eat until I go back inside. I put some peanut butter popcorn and cheerios out for them this morning, and one sat in the tree and chattered at me the whole time I was outside.

Any time I plant anything at all, I dust the area with ground red pepper and that seems to work. Be sure it is ground red pepper and not red pepper flakes which are seeds and you would be growing tons of peppers.

Linda Leaf

Chicken wire or rolled fencing placed over new beds is effective at deterring squirrels. Once the plants reach a few inches high the wire or fencing can be removed. It's worked for me for years. A dog or cat are also somewhat effective assuming they are outside during the day.

I have squirrels in my neighborhood, but since installing the sound emitters for the gophers have had no problems with either squirrels or gophers! I have a cherry and peach tree and a vege garden. Nancy

Thanks for all the tips and ideas! While I'm not looking forward to the idea of killing any animal and would love to live and let live, I work very hard on my backyard mini farm. It feeds my family and I put money into it. I wouldn't mind sharing a bit but the squirrels ate/made off with about 30 sunflower heads and have dug up, taken seeds or mowed down seedlings in my 5 vegetable beds. That's just what I've seen them do, not sure what they are doing when they are up on my roof...

We have some stray cats that have been hanging around and hunting them but haven't actually caught any yet. I'm not keen on the idea of feeding them elsewhere in the yard because to me that will make it ok for them to stay and just invite them and others to my yard. My neighbor does a good enough job of feeding them on purpose so I'd rather not help.

If they were stealing ornamental flowers it wouldn't be so bad and I could live with it but they are stealing the literal food from my family and that's not cool. I will certainly try all other means before actually harming an animal but with limited space and funds I can't really see me being able to over plant to account for this kind of loss to a tree rat... Thanks again everyone for your comments and ideas, much appreciated!

Since the squirrels aren't going away it might be best to grow things that they're not going to mess with. Might want to rethink growing sunflowers.

I think the idea was, in fact, to make them go away. It's doable, and not that expensive. This is largely a springtime exercise. You remove them in the spring, and they won't be back until next spring. Also, you remove them before you have harvestable and pilferable veggies. They are after nutritious stuff (e.g. protein, legumes and the like), sugar (fruit and melons), and moisture, which includes a lot of stuff, including squash. I just had a butternut get chewed on by a squirrel.

I trained my yard squirrels pretty well by sprinkling bird seed (including sunflower seeds) under bushes away from my pots and planting areas. I get about from 5 to 12 squirrels each day, with the most in the winter. The seed was really to bring in birds for me to watch from my kitchen windows and there was no way to keep out the squirrels. But it has had such a bonus. The squirrels go to the bird seed areas for ready food rather than dig in my pots for acorns from the oaks above. I do not put any seed out in my front yard where I plant and replant annuals... and the squirrels avoid it, I guess to go to the back yard seed feast. I also keep dishes of fresh water there -- it's nice seeing the jays, doves, and squirrels drinking in this infernally hot weather.

Except... ok, when there is freshly planted moist soil, at least one wise guy can't resist. Then I place things over the plants at night for a while... anything that will work, even an upside-down laundry basket with a rock to weight it.

I just replanted an earth box (water stored in bottom of big plastic box, keeps soil on top damp enough to sprout seeds which is a boon here in hot FL and would work well in your TX). For a week the box was not disturbed even 'tho I didn't put any protection over it. Then we has one cooler night. Bingo! A squirrel found it and kept returning. So up go contraptions to foil it.

Luckily here they don't bother my veggies and I grow many types of veggies. Oddly they'll go thru my ele fence surrounding my veggie patch to bury my neighbors pecans which they are busy doing now, but they leave the veggies alone. My main problem with them are the fruit trees. They'll strip every plum, cherry, peach, and apple every year leaving me just a few. They don't bother too much with the pears since they are too big and hard until they ripen and they ignore the Japanese persimmons too.

Unfortunately a lot of our problems with squirrels, coyotes, bears, geese, deer, etc., etc., etc., is that we've taken away their habitats. I live on 35 acres and don't have problems because the squirrels have enough to eat elsewhere. They are just trying to survive in subdivisions, cities, etc., because we've taken habitat away from them, not to mention our love of sterile lawns. I try to live and let live. If we continue to grow the way things are going, it will always be "Us against them." My approach is to outsmart them, rather than destroying them.... And to plant tons of things that benefit other species, rather than just ourselves. We have hundreds of black walnut trees.......which really keep the squirrels busy and fed. I know we all can't live on 35 acres, but things would be more balanced if we did. Okay....now will someone please help me off my soapbox? :)

As I said above, squirrels are very adaptable animals, and the population density of squirrels in the urban environment can be a hundred times that in rural areas. That's not because we've taken away habit. That's because we've made a LOT MORE habitat. There is food aplenty, and the predator count is low. So at least with regard to urban areas, squirrel populations are unnaturally high. Now, squirrels are at least somewhat tolerable as a habitat sharing partner. Moreso than coyotes, large cats, and bears. That's why we allow squirrels to proliferate, and we don't allow the others to.

vgkg - That's interesting about them leaving your pears alone. They eat every single one of mine. At this point I consider the pear tree the trap crop that saves my tomatoes.

danthedirt said:

>So you think that after killing squirrels, others will move in? Eventually, that's certainly true. But if you feed them instead, they'll stay around AND others will move in.

I don't feed them, but in my neighborhood anyone who has an oak tree on his property (as do I) will have squirrels a-plenty. I've been in this place for 7 years and it's only this summer that I've noticed a big uptick in their population. Fortunately for me, all my plants (tomatoes and herbs) are in pots and raised off the ground, so the squirrels rarely bother them.

I have extensive gardens and the squirrels have never bothered them much. Maybe a little digging in a pot here and there. They have tree seeds and other resources here and I also give them a few tidbits from the kitchen (corn chip crumbs or the like).

But I also use the cayenne pepper trick with rabbits, woodchucks, and deer. Bought 1 pound on Ebay for around 11 bucks, the container has holes on top. If I notice any critter activity I sprinkle the garden bed with red pepper. It doesn't seem to bother the plants and the critter gets one noseful of that and never comes back. It does need to re-applied if it rains.

Capsaicin is very irritating, as it's used in pepper sprays, but generally doesn't cause any lasting damage to the animal (or people).

I have lots of squirrels but don't have a problem. Our squirrels eat the pine cones for most of the season which is very long. They sit up in the many spruces and drop the scales which are called bracts to get at the tiny seeds. We do have oaks and I assume they store the acorns for winter.

We have lots of apples, a pear, cherry and some peaches and a garden. They seem to ignore what we grow. We have red squirrels which seem to be moving in to replace the grey squirrels. There's also a white squirrel that appears to spend most of it's time on the ground. I've seen as many as 5 hawks here at once, usually one, which I watch dive on what I assume are mice or chipmunks, out in the open field. Never saw one dive into a tree to get a squirrel.

I don't know if anyone is feeding them, we don't. There is a guy who comes here to deer hunt who baits the deer with 5 gallon buckets of corn. He's wasting his time and money. The deer are also here constantly. I notice many times when the hunters are in the woods the deer are hiding near the houses. I've seen them more than once under the pine tree 10 or 15 feet from the house. I have to fence everything from the deer, but I'm OK with squirrels.

With regard to cayenne pepper and squirrels, I have to believe it depends on your squirrels. My squirrels are thoroughly urban squirrels. I call them street-wise, or gangsta squirrels. NOTHING bothers them. They're around people, cars, bikes, dogs, and cats, and they don't care much. You can run after them, and they run away, but then they come right back. They are immune to unpleasant or threatening smells, including cayenne, mothballs, and cat urine. They just hold their noses, and get what they came for. I've never tried fox or coyote urine, which is pretty pricey stuff, but my squirrels probably have zero experience with foxes and coyotes, so why would they care? One might presume that with rural or bumpkin squirrels, just about anything unfamiliar will repel them.

vgkg - That's interesting about them leaving your pears alone. They eat every single one of mine.

They seem to prefer the pit fruits over the others but they will go after the pears once closer to ripening time. The past 2 years the pear trees have been so loaded down with pears that any missing isn't noticeable so I'm sure they took some but got tired of them, ha. That being said, in past years when the pears are sparse they will get them all here too.

just trap the GOOD FOR NUTTIN and then put a pellet in their mouth... Thats what an Uncle used to do. To me He was a hero.

oh checked out the" squirrelnator" that led to a CO one that one really rocks. Ha Ha

You kind hearted souls are causing the problem. esp those that feed the useless creatures.

only thing I remember yrs ago reading in a World Book encyclopedia that they plant trees... Duh........

nut trees esp even maple etc need no squirrels. Just nature leavings falling etc is enough to germinate seeds

oh wouldn't do any good here cause the AH get all the decent nuts and bury the BW that are next door everywhere. They carry the Black Wanuts up the hill

BW trees growing even in the bushes here. Long before we moved here

I wish I could send y'all all the GF NUTTINS sq. and chipmunks etc to yall bleeding hearts. LOL

Well, that's nice. But Texas law doesn't allow poisoning of squirrels, and local city codes often don't allow killing them with bullets or a trap. Mine don't. So if you like to obey laws, kind hearts don't necessarily have a lot to do with it. You can try to repel, or trap and remove.

Hey, maybe one can use explosives! You know, a squirrel trap with dynamite! What fun.

yeah I would like that minus the noise etc and fire potential confined to the squirrel. you live in the Sticks???? ...I wish I could eliminate the bad bugs mostly. They are quiet..

wish it was an easy way to get rid of moles. tried the traps. the Ah have tunneled almost all this property.... an I about trip walking around here. The prev OUTDOOR ONLY cat that showed up and let sta for years was useless mostly. He occ caught a chipmunk. but the silly butt, Lazy butt would mostly get birds an take them into his porch "house" and once a stinking rabbit. what a mess to clean....

we agree to disagree thats what makes the world an interesting place

more imp things to be concerned about