SO sorry for you Ariel! A few years ago I thought they were adorable 'Beatrix Potter' squirrels and even fed them since they didn't seem to cause too many problems. Then all of a sudden they started destroying things. The furry jerks do the same thing with my tulips. To add insult to injury they don't even EAT the flowers but leave them decapitated next to the plant!!!

The worst blow from came last year around this time. The previous spring I got a hardy terrestrial orchid that is said to have a swoon worthy scent of jasmine and vanilla. Yep, you guessed it. That #@%#^*!! squirrel snipped the stalk off before it bloomed!!!!
CMK

After the tree rats stripped the bark off one of my Japanese Maples I felt the same angst. Nothing has changed my mind since.

tj

No doubt it is confounding to garden with tiny little helpers who have contrary ideas and are ALWAYS OUT THERE. We had to pick our tomatoes way before they were ripe or they would get a bite taken from each one. Just one bite on the bottom where you can't see it until you grab the tomato and come away with a handfull of mush. Like people, I think some of them are just ornery.

How irritating! My toy fox terrier keeps them on the run most of the time.
But sometimes it seems like they just make rude "signs" at her.
I hung a very small dish feeder on the arbor for the smaller birds. The squirrels even get in that. Looks like an elephant in a teacup.

Lol!!! Thanks for the moral support!
I had a very sorry moment when my son was 4 and I had no idea that they bit off flower heads, and my brand new tulips were lying, beheades on the ground, so I asked him if he did it, and he said "no", but I couldn't tell by his face, even though he tends to be very honest, and I kept asking and finally explained that punishment would be worse if he was lying, because I want to be able to trust his word. He admitted it, was grounded from the park that day, and I was telling my husband how sad I was that it was the first time he'd ever lied to me.
A week later, I go outside, see a squirrel jump, and there is a rose head lying on the ground.
I felt Terrible!!!! I went inside to immediately apologize to my son and asked why he'd admitted to it ("I got confused") poor little guy.
So he yelled at squirrels all that year when he saw them lol

Awwww! That is so sad but cute, Ariel! Maybe he will grow up to be an exterminator! Lol.

The squirrels around here have been digging up my bulbs for years. No wonder I don't see any appear in the spring=:/ But this year we have a monster squirrel! I always feed the birds in a lasagna type dish on the fence when it starts to get cold. This year our monster squirrel seems to think it is his private stash! So he fills it with pinecones so no one will get any! Pictures speak a thousand words.

Ginny

Oh my. Gardeners have so many "helpers"! Beetles, squirrels, gophers, voles, aphids...etc... I am so sorry the little stinkers are causing you so much trouble. They are very clever too which makes it worse!
kay

Lol. Love.the smart squirrel with the pinecone idea. *throws carrotsticks over chocolate*
Kay, they are so "helpful" GAh!!!
We watched one bury a massive whole breadbun near Marietta Polka-dot the other day. Yuck!!!

CTC ~ I have to do that with the Halloween candy around here or my husband will eat it all!!

At first I thought the squirrel was leaving me tokens of appreciation.......until I watched him carefully pile the cones in and protect his stash up and down the fence and even in the trees! He literally pounces on the birds and chases them through the trees! He lays along the top of the fence like he's on guard and only does this when I fill the dishes. It is quite a gong show to watch. Especially when the maggies and bluejays come down and start throwing the pinecones everywhere. Lol. :)

My neighbour tells me that they fill the birdhouses on her deck with all that I feed them then they go in and harrass the sparrows when they build nests in the spring!

Maybe try feeding them and they will leave your plants alone. In other words put some squirrel goodies beside the new plants. :)Just a thought.....

Ginny

Great, honalee, I have to pay them tribute? HAHAHAHAHAH! They're like little land pirates
*squeaky voices* Leave peanut butter or we shall strike your hens and chicks and carry off your lily bulbs to where you shall never see them again!!!

LMAO! You are just toooo funny!!!! I love the way you play out each little scene! Like an annimated film! "Hammy and Scrat Do New York". Dressed in Halloween costumes for disguise!! :)

Ginny

Just had to add this link in. I have recently started making Gnomes in ceramics for my garden. Where I used to think they were the silliest, ugliest garden ornaments around, they have started to charm their way into my garden......or maybe they are brainwashing me...... Regardless, I fear they will become as pesky as the squirrels as is seen in this video. Good thing I have dogs! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0foMKAxCww&feature=share

Ginny

I'll try to check your link on a computer that lets me, but the idea of a gnome and squirrel alliance is alarming. As long as the gnomes don't start making demands, too. *more mushrooms, or we'll knock your seed pods down*