Intelligent, curious and always hungry, squirrels are eyeing your garden for lunch.
“Squirrels are smarter than we are,” says gardening expert Mark Cullen.
“The best way to discourage them is to avoid making what they like the most available in places you don’t want them. No nuts, no open containers of bird seed or grass seed.”
Squirrels eat a variety of food and it is safe to say that if you can eat it, they can eat it. At the top of their menu: apples, tomatoes, cherries, carrots… the list goes on.
Nothing is guaranteed, but the Internet is full of natural deterrents for the home gardener to help stop these furry visitors. Here is a list of the most popular:
1. Vinegar, hold the fries
Apple cider vinegar can be placed in a spray bottle and sprayed on planters, trunks and branches. It’s a natural squirrel repellent, but it only lasts a couple of days and you will have to respray after it rains.
2. Make it spicy
Ground up some hot peppers such as cayenne or jalapeno -- the variety doesn’t matter. It’s the capsaicin in the pepper that gives it heat, and the hotter the better. Mix the ground pepper with an equal amount of cloves, add water and spray around your walkways and plants. Once again, respray after it rains.
3. Not-so-friendly plants
Surround your garden with plants that squirrels don’t like. Caution: a lot of the bedding plants we take for granted can be harmful to cats, dogs and even children. Plants commonly used are geraniums, daffodils (the bulbs contain oxalates, which cause burning and irritation if swallowed), hyacinth (poisonous to cats and dogs), and alliums (chives, leeks and onions are all poisonous to dogs).
Some websites also mention Lily of the Valley. But this plant is highly poisonous and the red berries can be a danger to children.
4. Eau de K-9
The smell of a dog is a natural deterrent. The next time you brush your pet, place the discarded fur around the plants you want to protect.
5. Gone to seed
Use safflower seed in bird feeders; it’s highly nutritious and tastes bitter to squirrels. According to the City of Toronto website: “Squirrels have adapted very well to city life due to bird feeders -- eliminating this food source may encourage them to move on.”
And the hardest for most animal lovers would be: don’t feed them. It may seem obvious but it’s hard in the winter not to toss peanuts at a squirrel tunneling through the snow. Instead, get a bag of peanuts and distribute them at the nearest park. Your conscience is now clear and the battle for garden supremacy will begin again next year.
