Caught this on our rock wall...(pics)

[swimmer]

I live in Utah, and have the same type of pest in my yard. Thought they were cute at first. Would watch them playing in my rock wall. Then watched them one day eat some flowers, then some tomato plants, peppers, loved the peas and beans. I trapped them and took them for a long ride out the the desert.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

My friends have a tomato garden and every other morning they awaken to a 1/2 eaten red tomato on top of their fence due to squirrels. I have an herb garden and one of them bit my bright red cayenne peppers..the last time I saw him he was doing about 100 mph.heading to the pond for water. LOl LOl LOL...

 

[operator16]

There's only one thing that wants that squirrel out of your garden more than you......A DOG! My dog loves everything in this world except those rascally squirrels. We cannot even say the "S" word or she goes insane!

Do you have a dog?




MAGS ON SQUIRREL WATCH! Every hour she's awake...she's on squirrel watch. Sometimes it's bunny watch. WOOF!

 

[TheFeatheredTempest]

Yeppers, they do eat lizards. And insects. And smaller rodents if they can catch them. And carrion. They can be pretty opportunistic. It's a give and take, eat and get eaten world

I always feel sorry for homeowners who get sucked in by "pest" removal businesses and the like. They take your money and then you have to call them back again and again and they take more of your money and pretty soon you come to realize that the pesky critters were cheaper than the "solution".

A dog is a great idea. Maybe you could train an attack chicken!

Actually might work. Hmmmm My dominant hen drives off wild birds whenever she sees them.

There are loads of natural and free or low cost solutions. I'm a gardening fanatic and employ some of the old standards in my garden (veggies but mostly perennials) which is almost an acre! You can "borrow"

some dog or cat poo from a friend and scatter that about the garden perimeter. There's the red pepper trick. And my personal favorite - I have my boyfriend urinate along the border of an area I'm trying to protect.

Sometimes he just "collects" it in a jar for me but oh yeah, he does enjoy (discreetly) making a personal visit. I'd be willing to loan him to ya!

 

[geebs]

squirrels stole so many of my eggs this spring... and they are crafty little thieves.

and YES I have a dog too.... He eats squirrels and at my house this year that was very encouraged as we had such a mild summer they were able to have litter after litter after litter... The nieghborhood was riddled with them.. My dog and cat tag teammed and ate 8 of them in just over a week. They would come into the coop and my guys would nail em from their hidey spot (my dog a peke a poo would hide in the feed bin)... I would leave the lid off so the squrrels would get comfortable and then my dog would jump in and wait... they couldn't see him in there and he had em... My dog is nearly blind.... but his mind still works.

I think that is his very favorite meal... that and pinky mouse babies.

 

[buildingmyark]

Quote:

 

[7L Farm]

Here's a squirrel feeder I built.

 

[SparksNV]

yup - got 2 dogs - well, they're pugs - They may look sweet but I am sure they would chase it if they saw it.

Cooper (the bigger one) and Brees (yes, named after Drew Brees - GEAUX SAINTS!

)

I think we will reset the trap to catch any others - our property is only about 1/3 of an acre. It has dug a warren of tunnels in the dirt behind the rock wall.

I also have my neighbor's cat(s) that comes over. But we chase it off because it has gone into the run & appears to be very interested in the chickens.

Tempest: Thanks for the loan offer but I have a feeling that my dh would enjoy being given the

to "take care of business" around the backyard! LOL!

Carol

 

[LastChanceChickenDance]

We have a similar looking rodent here in Oregon that we call a digger squirrel. They're everywhere. Our chicken house (it's not a coop, it's a house) has a plywood floor but is built on concrete piers and rocks (bad idea) rather than a solid concrete footing and foundation. A mother digger squirrel moved under the house and had babies. We discovered them in the chicken house eating the chicken food. We don't own a gun other than a pellet gun and don't have the heart for killing squirrels anyway, so we set a have-a-heart trap and caught and relocated the mom and babies one at a time. Then another squirrel moved into the territory and after we caught him another moved in! All in all we caught and relocated 9 digger squirrels. So far nobody new has moved in.

I don't want them around the chickens because of any parasites/diseases they might carry and because they love to eat the chicken food. I wish the chickens were more territorial and would chase them away, but they don't. They do chase little birds out of their chicken yard!

 

[marymac]

I can't wait till hubby goes squirrel hunting this fall. They sure are yummy fried. Next time you trap one, eat it.