Squirrels in my coop

[okiemommy]

The thing with Marigolds is they are poisonous to children and pets, so if you have little ones, or dogs, Marigolds arent really advisable.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

LOL we have an occasional squirrel get into the house. I know we would have a problem with the coop and run. Hence not using chicken wire, but the welded wire clothe.

the squirrels we have here are already morbidly obese. Most of the neighbors feed them in hopes of keeping them out of the bird feeders

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Dangerouschicken, what is 1/4" welded wire, and where do you buy it? Thanks

 

[flakey chick]

For other types of bird feeders, there is a pepper mixture people put in the seed. The rodents can't stand it, but the birds don't even seem to notice.

 

[MayberrySaint]

I have had a real problem with squirrels. My lot has walnut and pecan trees and the squirrels love them. They were also eating the chicken feed and I caught one eating an egg right in the nest box.
I do not like to kill animals, but live trapping did not work. At last count, I've eliminated over 30 (last 2 years) and there is just one, sneaky buggar left. The crows enjoy their squirrel meals.

 

[LynneP]

We had a squirrel chew through perfectly good wood under our deck, penetrate a sill and take up residence inside a wall in our basement. We have a cat, and she couldn't get this one. What worked eventually was to dump mothballs into the access hole, block the hole, scrupulously watching for others to appear. When she came out to avoid the fumes kitty got her. Now your squirrels have everything they need in a well-vented area, so you're going to have to study them, or shoot them. They are not above stealing eggs or killing chicks, either. What kind of squirrel? Thirty you say! Oh they've got to go.

 

[gogododo]

squirrels by nature are very lazy, so you can use that to trap them. Common snare in the wild is to take a stick and lean it up against a tree. The squirrel would rather run up the stick than to the tree and climb the tree. So what you do is make a small noose and drape it on the stick so when the little bugger runs up the stick it gets its head in the noose and can't get out. They'll then fall off the stick and hang themself.

 

[dangerouschicken]

You can get 1/4" welded wire at Home Depot. It is right there with the chicken wire, etc. and comes in galvenized metal or dark green plastic coated wire (we use galvenized). I can't recommend it enough if you live in a predator heavy area. It is very strong.

You can also keep up your existing chicken wire, and just add another layer of wire that is thicker, such as 2" x 4" welded wire fencing. If this is the outside wire, it annoys the predators enough they don't seem to bother with trying to get through the chicken wire. But it sounds like you have some tough, aggressive squirrels. I would go with the 1/4" welded wire and call it a day.

Take that, bully squirrels!

Edited to add: Not all marigolds are poisonous. Some are used for culinary purposes. GardenWeb had the following information:

Q. Are marigolds poisonous or edible? A. Not all marigolds are edible. As a very broad rule of thumb, opt for Calendula officinalis as the one considered the edible and medicinal ('official') marigold. It's also called Holigold, Pot Marigold, Bride of the Sun, Summer's Bride, Sun's Gold, Ruddes, Ruddles, Marygold, Marybud.

The French Marigold, Tagetes patula, is not edible. It is used in companion planting for insect and nematode control.

Of the Gem Marigolds, only Tagetes tenuifolia is edible, although some claim that T. signata and T. pumila are also edible. Since there seems to be some disagreement about this, I'd suggest caution. I've seen quite a few reference where T. signata is 'harmful if eaten in large quantities'. I've seen one or two references to the African Marigold (T. erecta) being edible.

 

[ninjapoodles]

We grow Calendula (a marigold). I use the dried flowers to infuse olive oil for soapmaking, and sometimes even put the petals in the soap. It's one of my favorite soaps. Usually instead of plain water in the lye solution, I use calendula tea as well.

 

[swampducks]

Quote:
Brunswick Stew.... yuuuuummmmmmmm!