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| I was hoping to find a topic for deterring pests but this was the closest I found. Is there anything I can put around the plants, around the flower beds, etc. to keep those rotten, mangy squirrels from continually digging up my flowers? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Grovespirit Zone 11 CA (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 05 at 16:50
| Yes. You can put up 1/4" hardware cloth around the bed. It needs to go 2 ft. below and 2 ft above the soil surface. Other solutions include bobcat or Coyote urine based repellents which can be bought online, a dog or cat that likes to attack squirrels, artificial coyotes with marble eyes, Owl houses- to attract predatory owls (only in the country cause owls hate street lights). There's also traps and poisons you can use. My favorite natural poisons are foxglove flowers coated with raspberry jam, and peanut butter mixed with Datura juice. Talk to a local hardware store or feed store about traps or commercial poisons if you like. I've also read that if you plant a Datura they will eat a flower cause it smells yummy and the flower will kill them. I use a combination of a Sheltie who terrorizes squirrels, hardware cloth, and rodent resistant plantings which are toxic to squirrels. Some of these, such as calla lilies, foxgloves and larkspurs, can be very attractive. On rare occasions when I have a severe rodent problem (ie 2 dozen squirrels or more eating up the garden at once) I will use the aforementioned natural poisons. Good luck! |
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| Bloodmeal or cayenne pepper works for me. I prefer the bloodmeal because I can scatter it in handfuls. The big downside is that I have to reapply after rain. (But right now it's raining so much even the squirrels are staying in!) And I put chicken wire over my bulbs in the fall. |
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| What is bloodmeal? Does it have any odor? The tip about using urine from a bobcat turns me off since I know what regular cat urine smells like. I feed the squirrels and have special feeders for them. But for the first time in years, they are digging up my flowers in all of my window boxes hiding their corn. I wonder if this means we will have a cold winter and they are getting prepared. |
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| Bloodmeal is pure nitrogen powder and has no smell to humans but rodents smell it. It worked wonders keeping away rabbits and squirrels for me. It is sold in any nursery or garden center. |
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