troutarm-
I am a veteran of the Bamboo-Squirrel wars, and have tried many things. Once the squirrels acquire a taste for shoots (they love the sugar), and have decided they like the salad bar you are providing, you have to take strong measures. I won't bore you with all the things I've sprayed or smeared on the shoots...ultimately with limited success. The one thing that works is a physical barrier. Go to Home Depot or equivalent and buy yourself a roll of wire screening. It should have squares about 1/2" in size. The rolls are typically about 2' wide, and sometimes you can get them with a green vinyl coating. In any case, cut a piece so that you can form a cylinder a couple of inches in diameter and at least a foot high. Stand this up over any new shoot emerging from the ground. You can wire it to a nearby culm or to a stake you place in the ground next to the shoot. When the shoot gets to a foot high or so, it will have hardened off and not be appealing to the squirrels. At that point you can slip off the "armor" and enjoy your new bamboo. If you have several shoots close together, you can make a larger diameter cylinder, but just make sure you fold the wire mesh in at the top so that the squirrels can't get in that way. Good luck.

My condolences. You must have mutant zombie squirrels! I've never had them bother my bamboo after it gets more than a foot high and hardens off. Is there any possibility that something else (like deer) could be doing some of the damage?

I found the cure to the squirrel issue:

Crossman Pumpmaster 760

Squirrels do not tolerate high velocity metalic projectiles well. In fact it tends to discourage their eating AND breeding habbits. Works well with rabbits too. Now my hostas have a fighting chance. By the way, the Japanese used to fertilize bamboo with dead animal matter.....like squirrels and rabbits. Opossums work well too.....just takes a higher dose of metal to get them ready and willing.

Good luck!

rmk3392-
That's a solution I've contemplated, but I would have had to buy night vision goggles, too!

Have you considered giving them something they like better ? We had the little beasties snack on our vivax last spring. We give them a steady diet of corn on the cob. AKA field corn. The cost of this diet has steadly increased due to farmers selling all their corn for ethenol prodution. We haven't lost a single culm to them this year.
Rich

Maybe not Kudzu,

At least with rabbits I now really think that a few yard kills and woundings every spring deters them in the immediate area, esp if the bodies are left for a while. Last year I had severe rabbit damage early on, first spring in this home.....then we welcomed a brand new baby PUMPMASTER 760 into our family and this year no damage as of yet! I have not seen one single rabbit except way off in the distance....all hostas and other shooting plants are doing great.

I am relatively new to bamboo and just getting my first shoots up.....so far no problems. There are plenty of squirrels around but again I don't seem to find them on my land....just hopping around the trees in the distance. Maybe they haven't found the shoots yet, or maybe the squirrels are reading the Rabbit Obituaries or otherwise secretly communicating with them. I'll conduct a similar Pumpmaster Study this year and publish later. Maybe we can put the night goggle people out of business ;)

rmk3392-
I'd be really interested to hear from you in a year or so to see if this is a continuing, effective solution. Thanks.

Havahart traps with peanut butter works well. You can then relocate them

I've used Havahart traps with mixed success because, if there are a lot of squirrels in your neighborhood, more will move in after you remove the original "tenants."

I have had good success recently in preventing squirrels from eating the new shoots by applying a concoction made out of the screenings of kitty litter waste.. I make it from the mixture of feces, urine and kitty litter clay that is soaked for a day or more in water.. I then mix it into a smooth textured slurry in a tall bucket with a dry-wall mixing tool attached to a strong drill... The resulting mixture is lightly painted onto the shoots as they emerge and grow to about 4 feet high.. (every couple of days for a week or so).. I think it works so well because it smells so repulsively and because the clay leaves a stinking residue on the shoots... and it probably helps that it comes from one of the squirrels' natural enemies... Whatever the case it has literally saved my bamboos as the squirrels were eating virtually every one of the shoots as they came up... Previously I had tried applying hot pepper, dishwashing soap, bug spray, cages...etc., etc... with very poor results... This stuff works much more effectively..

"I'll conduct a similar Pumpmaster Study this year and publish later."

Ha! Great stuff!

BTW, only an anecdotal account, but I too have been experimenting with high velocity air-propelled .22 cal lead projectiles as a solution to my ground squirrel problem. Seems to be working pretty well. I'll be looking forward to your definitive results and conclusions.

Cheers!