I have a problem with squirrels in my oak tree once the acorns come
out. I don't mind the squirrels at all but they chew off the tips of
the branches then come down to the ground to get the acorns off of
them. It makes both the tree and the lawn look horrible. I don't
want to put the aluminum cone around the tree to stop them from
climbing. Does anyone know of any kind of repellant that will keep
them from climbing my tree?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

In article ,
(Bill Short) wrote:

I have a problem with squirrels in my oak tree once the acorns come
out. I don't mind the squirrels at all but they chew off the tips of
the branches then come down to the ground to get the acorns off of
them. It makes both the tree and the lawn look horrible. I don't
want to put the aluminum cone around the tree to stop them from
climbing. Does anyone know of any kind of repellant that will keep
them from climbing my tree?

Thanks in advance,

Bill


I'm afraid wrapping the trunk in slippery sheet metal is about it, but if
you attach it to be removable, you only need to have it there when the
acorns are attracting them. The nastiest repellant they'll ignore if
rewarded with acorns. Here's some restriction hints:

http://www.paghat.com/squirrelcontrol.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

On 21 Jul 2003 09:28:46 -0700, (Bill Short) wrote:

I have a problem with squirrels in my oak tree once the acorns come
out. I don't mind the squirrels at all but they chew off the tips of
the branches then come down to the ground to get the acorns off of
them. It makes both the tree and the lawn look horrible. I don't
want to put the aluminum cone around the tree to stop them from
climbing. Does anyone know of any kind of repellant that will keep
them from climbing my tree?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

I have a problem with squirrals in my two oaks. I don't have enough of
them!! Acorns are the ultimate squirral food and they need to start
stashing food for this winter. If i didn't want them, i would cut down
the trees. If they chew your branches, which i have never seen, then
they must chew my branches too, and my trees look great, year after
year.

Hope you find a solution. If the trees are old, the squirrals have
probably been counting on those nuts for a long time. Maybe you could
wack the nuts out of the tree FOR them...

Xref: kermit rec.gardens:240204


"paghat" wrote in message
news
...snip.... One of the worst things is when someone
lives amidst squirrels who harvest buds off trees. That's rare except in
starvation conditions, but once it gets started, it can be something much
of a given population of squirrels will do.

...snip...
-paghat the ratgirl

snip...


paghat, please give the source for this information about squirrels rarely
eating buds. I have never heard tell of this only starting with starvation
conditions and would like to learn more. It appears that every squirrel I have
ever encountered in my lifetime has harvested buds in the spring, so maybe it is
only rare around your location.

BT

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 14:43:51 -0500, jammer wrote:

I have a problem with squirrals in my two oaks. I don't have enough of
them!! Acorns are the ultimate squirral food and they need to start
stashing food for this winter.

Around here they seem to prefer the hickory nuts, which really ticks
me off. Then they move onto the red & white oaks (now I just need a
blue oak and I'll have a patriotic forest heh).

If you get rid of the squirrels, then the acorns will ripen and
instead of smaller, half-ripe acorns falling on stuff, you will have
fully ripened, heavier acorns You just can't win.

Dan

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , jammer
wrote:

Actually it isn't common that squirrels chew off branches. But what Bill
described is a "tribal" method that squirrels in some areas learn.

In my area (SF bay area) I have Douglas' Squirrels which are tree squirrels.
I find short chewed-off branches on the ground under my olives and cedars
all the time and attribute it to nest building. The squirrels were here
long before I was, and our trees have survived decades of such activity and
look great.

One of the worst things is when someone lives amidst squirrels who
harvest buds off trees. That's rare except in starvation conditions,
but once it gets started, it can be something much of a given population
of squirrels will do.

Bud-harvesting was common on my property when I first moved here, but the
poor squirrels were starving. I began feeding the squirrels and birds and
now they leave my tree buds and daffodils alone. I can't keep them out of
my azaleas, though, for some reason they find the blossoms delicious. I've
even found them carrying off blossoms to line their nests.

BTW, for the original poster, the German word for squirrel (Eichhörnchen)
means "oak kitten."

- Figmo

In article , "Figmo"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , jammer
wrote:

Actually it isn't common that squirrels chew off branches. But what Bill
described is a "tribal" method that squirrels in some areas learn.

In my area (SF bay area) I have Douglas' Squirrels which are tree squirrels.
I find short chewed-off branches on the ground under my olives and cedars
all the time and attribute it to nest building. The squirrels were here
long before I was, and our trees have survived decades of such activity and
look great.

Douglas squirrels (& further north Red or Chickaree squirrel) prefer pine
forests to any other & the first proof of their presence is piles of cone
scales at the foot of trees. People who go into the woods to gather pine
nuts watch for evidence of Douglas or Red squirrel caches, then rob the
squirrels. Late in the year when the cones are ready to harvest, they're
nipped from the trees with a little length of stem attached, then they
descend to the ground & remove the cones from the branches & bury them.
That at least is their behavior if human presence doesn't alter their
behavior.

When they live near people (& they're just about the only squirrels
besides the much more common grey squirrels that LIKE to live near people
& do so very successfully), their behavior has to take advantage of more
kinds of trees & is less focused on pine-nuts as primary resources, but I
can easily imagine they'd continue to clip small limbs of whatever they
were harvesting & descend to bury the extra. This would ordinarily amount
to healthful pruning though. The reason so many cultivars need pruning to
be in best form is because plants even in the wild are pruned by grazing
animals, squirrels, birds, & even by stormy weather.

One of the worst things is when someone lives amidst squirrels who
harvest buds off trees. That's rare except in starvation conditions,
but once it gets started, it can be something much of a given population
of squirrels will do.

Bud-harvesting was common on my property when I first moved here, but the
poor squirrels were starving. I began feeding the squirrels and birds and
now they leave my tree buds and daffodils alone. I can't keep them out of
my azaleas, though, for some reason they find the blossoms delicious. I've
even found them carrying off blossoms to line their nests.

Not all squirrels are horders like grey, douglas, & red squirrels. Most
people live near greys only, & the large squirrels will not harvest buds
unless their horded food resources ran out in late winter & there is no
choice of food BUT buds so early in the new year. As you found out, if
better food resources are provided to them in late winter/early spring,
red, douglas, or greys don't want buds. But flying squirrels live in a
tighter hunting range, & take advantage of less high-fat food resources
than do grey squirrels, & for them tree buds are predictably a normal part
of their late winter diet. Hardly anyone ever blames them because people
don't even realize they have tree squirrels about. They are in some cities
THE most common mammal & far outnumber grey squirrels or racoons or
possums or any other mammal that has adapted to city life, but flying
squirrels are so profoundly nocturnal & shy, only the city workers who
clip tree limbs out of telephone wires know how common they are.

Interesting your Douglas squirrels will eat azalea blossoms. Deciduous
azaleas may I ask? It's not a harvesting choice I knew about, but the
western deciduous azalea is extremely redolent, its sweetness can be
smelled twenty feet away, & I can imagine squirrels taking a liking to
them. It strikes me, though, like one of those "regional" learned habits
that might not carry through to populations in other areas.

BTW, for the original poster, the German word for squirrel (Eichhörnchen)
means "oak kitten."

I always translated it "acorn kitty." I used to give English instruction
to Japanese folks, who cannot say "squirrel." Another word many Japanese
people have trouble saying is "cat" which always comes out "Kato," as
there are no words in Japanese that end in T. But squirrel is much more
extreme, as ot has three sounds in it that have no parallel enunciation in
Japanese -- no Japanese words with the "skw" "irr" OR a concluding "el",
so that one little word is like their worst tongue-twister, but since this
was on the U.W. campus which is just crawling with semi-tame grey
squirrels, it was a word everyone had need one. So one of the lessons
focused on a word they would never be able to say even close enough for a
hearer to figure it out, & after some few moments of frustration & not
even coming close with "squirrel" I'd suggest "acorn kitty" which was easy
to say.

(Which reminds me, the only syllable in the name Edgar Allan Poe
pronouncable in Japanese is "Poe". Japanese pronounce the name
Edo-gawa-rampo, & the classic Japanese author Edogawa Rampo really
believed he had taken Poe's name as his own pseudonym for Japanese
publication.)

-paghat

- Figmo

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

"paghat" wrote in message
news ....snip...
squirrels are horders like grey, douglas, & red squirrels. Most
people live near greys only, & the large squirrels will not harvest buds
unless their horded food resources ran out in late winter & there is no
choice of food BUT buds so early in the new year. As you found out, if
better food resources are provided to them in late winter/early spring,
red, douglas, or greys don't want buds.
....snip...
-paghat


paghat, could you please indicate your source for the above information you have
shared with us. Or perhaps explain why grey squirrels that live in a park next
to houses with birdfeeding stations filled with sunflower seeds and cracked corn
still find the need to eat tree buds every year?

Here is a reference that indicates the squirrels always eat buds..."When the
buds of elm, oak, and white and sugar maples are swelling, the squirrel may be
seen perched precariously far in the treetops feeding on them and the flowers or
catkins. Grasping a stem in its hands, the gray squirrel clips it with sharp
teeth, then, revolving the cluster, eats the buds one by one. For three or four
weeks each year it lives largely on this delicate fare." , taken from
http://www.kellydickey.com/blackpowd...quirrel/graysq
uirrel.htm

And here is another reference..."The Gray Squirrel is omnivorous, eating buds,
leaves, fruits, seeds (mostly from deciduous trees), insects, and bird eggs
(Cowan and Guiguet 1973; Banfield 1974). Their preference for these food items
changes with availability and phenological stage of the vegetation; swelling
buds are fed upon during early spring, flowers and samaras in late spring. A
variety of fruits (especially nuts) are eaten during summer and fall for forming
a thick layer of fat (Banfield 1974; Woods 1980). This squirrel also stockpiles
a winter supply of food in underground storage piles called middens. ", taken
from http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/te...iscml20-07.htm


BT

"BT" wrote in
:

paghat, could you please indicate your source for the above
information you have shared with us. Or perhaps explain why grey
squirrels that live in a park next to houses with birdfeeding stations
filled with sunflower seeds and cracked corn still find the need to
eat tree buds every year?

seasonal dietary needs? I don't know about you, but if I were a dog, I'd get
tired of eating dried kibble everyday. or maybe the squirrels have learned to
stay way from humans and birdfeeders ... not worth the hassle.

a thick layer of fat (Banfield 1974; Woods 1980). This squirrel also
stockpiles a winter supply of food in underground storage piles called
middens. ", taken from
http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/te...iscml20-07.htm

I always thought that a midden was a dung pile and not stock pile.

-- Salty

In article , "BT"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news ...snip...
squirrels are horders like grey, douglas, & red squirrels. Most
people live near greys only, & the large squirrels will not harvest buds
unless their horded food resources ran out in late winter & there is no
choice of food BUT buds so early in the new year. As you found out, if
better food resources are provided to them in late winter/early spring,
red, douglas, or greys don't want buds.
...snip...
-paghat


paghat, could you please indicate your source for the above information
you have
shared with us. Or perhaps explain why grey squirrels that live in a
park next
to houses with birdfeeding stations filled with sunflower seeds and
cracked corn
still find the need to eat tree buds every year?

I have an EXTENSIVE personal library of books about all manner of rodents,
but the majority of what I've noted could be found even in the most
generic field gkuide such as National Audobon Guide to N.A. Mammals which,
for instance, does not mention buds as one of the grey squirrel's food
items because it is not their standard food item. That doesn't mean they
never eat them & I was clear on that, but squirrels' nutrient needs would
not be met by a diet of buds so it's a back-up food for emergency
conditions -- but as I said, squirrels have such rich personalities &
individuality that even unusual behaviors may occur in some populations.


Here is a reference that indicates the squirrels always eat buds..."When the
buds of elm, oak, and white and sugar maples are swelling, the squirrel may be
seen perched precariously far in the treetops feeding on them and the
flowers or
catkins. Grasping a stem in its hands, the gray squirrel clips it with sharp
teeth, then, revolving the cluster, eats the buds one by one. For three
or four
weeks each year it lives largely on this delicate fare." , taken from

http://www.kellydickey.com/blackpowd...quirrel/graysq
uirrel.htm

"MAY EAT" is definitely NOT the same as your paraphrase "ALWAYS EAT," &
you certainly never caught me saying NEVER eat, in fact I adhered to the
facts of it, MAY eat. If what they ALWAYS eat, such as acorns or
beechnuts, are horded in sufficient quantities,they don't have to rely on
foods better suited for ruminants in winter. But I've in no way implied
they won't eat some opening buds -- I say (correctly) it is something they
eat only when their caches are empty & they have no other options. The
PRIMARY foods (for grey squirrels) acorn, hickery, walnut, beechnut,
peacan, maple & tulip tree seeds, & if cultivation fields are accessible,
the germ-end of corn kernels. One could add to that french fries &
picnickers' potato chips & gardeners' flower buds, sure, but not for
squirrels whose primary diet choices are adequate.

And here is another reference..."The Gray Squirrel is omnivorous, eating buds,
leaves, fruits, seeds (mostly from deciduous trees), insects, and bird eggs
(Cowan and Guiguet 1973; Banfield 1974). Their preference for these food items
changes with availability and phenological stage of the vegetation; swelling
buds are fed upon during early spring, flowers and samaras in late spring. A
variety of fruits (especially nuts) are eaten during summer and fall for
forming
a thick layer of fat (Banfield 1974; Woods 1980). This squirrel also
stockpiles
a winter supply of food in underground storage piles called middens. ", taken
from http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/te...iscml20-07.htm

You certainly didn't see me saying anything different from that, so I
don't know quite why you're flipping out. But if you ever decide to become
bookish rather than googlish you'll get a more complete picture, but even
as an instant-googler you'll make better observations if you can only stop
misreading your scant paragraph of knowledge as "ALWAYS" where no such
errors appear.

It should be noted again that the Douglas or Red squirrel has a different
set of preferences. Grey & Red squirrel ranges by states overlap a great
deal, but they live in different forests. While the Grey would eat
PRIMARILY nuts & seeds of oak, beech, hickery, & maple, the red squirrel
would be in an old-growth forest & eat primarily pine nuts. But with
squirrels there are few absolutes, & studies of squirrel caches show they
both will harvest the others' preferred diets, plus some populations have
peculiar individualistic likes & dislikes.

Meaning that speaking in generalities is just that, & I've been clear with
each of my posts that these are general principles, not the absolutes &
alwayses you strangely wish to misread them as.


BT

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

In article , Salty Thumb
wrote:

"BT" wrote in
:

paghat, could you please indicate your source for the above
information you have shared with us. Or perhaps explain why grey
squirrels that live in a park next to houses with birdfeeding stations
filled with sunflower seeds and cracked corn still find the need to
eat tree buds every year?

seasonal dietary needs? I don't know about you, but if I were a dog, I'd get
tired of eating dried kibble everyday. or maybe the squirrels have learned to
stay way from humans and birdfeeders ... not worth the hassle.

a thick layer of fat (Banfield 1974; Woods 1980). This squirrel also
stockpiles a winter supply of food in underground storage piles called
middens. ", taken from
http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/te...iscml20-07.htm

I always thought that a midden was a dung pile and not stock pile.

In the term's special usage with red squirrels, the midden is the visible
part of a red squirrel's cache or larder hoard (the actual area of the
food is called the larder hoard, not the midden that may be the larder
hoard's cap). The larder hoard usually consists of cone scales & forest
floor rubble pushed over a depression in the ground. This will USUALLY be
underneath a midden heap, but not invariably, as some of the squirrel
larders are in rotting trees, & the midden heap on the ground outside. For
red squirrels the larder hoard is primarily pine cones or spruce cones.
Occasionally a midden is just a rubble pile with no cache behind it (in a
rotting out tree) nor under it (in the ground), as the squirrel will have
a "feeding branch" the next tree over, from which it has a particularly
good view of the environment as it eats, & a midden will accumulate under
a feeding branch separate from the larder horde.

When speaking short-hand rather than drawing a fuller picture, the
distinction between the midden & the larder is not apt to be made, even
though they're not invariably together.

But the REALLY incorrect thing about BT's mere paragraph of "knowledge"
is that he quotes a website on grey squirrels, WHICH DO NOT BUILD MIDDENS!
Greys & reds both hoard food for the winter, but a grey squirrel's hoard
is called a "scatter hoard" which will be over a more extensive area of
individually "planted" beechnuts or acorns (or whichever local yummies
they rely on) rather than a larder in one place. I won't fault BT too
much for not knowing the difference, only for pretending to know anything
at all; for it was a government website, & one would expect to be able to
trust it a bit more than 99% of google hits, most of which contain even
more outrageous nonsense.

The page was clearly patched together by a government flunky who did a
pretty good job for a government flunky who was not even permitted to sign
the work. It was based on serious works, but clearly no one actually
knoweldgeable checked the condensation & redaction for errors. Most of the
synoptic statements credit sources (the synopsiser seems not read many of
the primary sources himself, but copied the citations from some longer
overview).

The majority of the page is a pretty good job, but more than the midden
error reveals no personal working knowledge on the synopsizer's part. No
source at all is offered for the midden statement, because it was not from
any of the articles being condensed -- the condenser obviously felt safe
tacking on the one thing he thought he actually knew. Any of us might make
the same sort of mistake if we'd been given that government flunky's task.
When I write a monograph for publication (such as most recently on
American victorian author Alice Brown), I have others knowledgeable in my
field go over the near-final draft, hoping exactly that sort of goofy
error will be spotted; given that the government flunky was out of his
depths, he did a damned good job. And of course BT, not knowing anything
of the topic personally, is to be forgiven for not recognizing even such a
howling error, for goshwow, the government flunky uses big terms like
Biogeoclimatic Zone. That might've fooled me too if I hadn't an actual
interest in rodents & a working knowledge a bit greater than can be
instantly googled.

The food habits section of the page was just generally very poorly done,
so a bit unfortunate it was BT's favorite bit. It would indeed cause
know-nothings to assume bird eggs & flower buds are a food equal in
importance to nuts & berries for grey squirrels. The list even includes
leaves. A squirrel on a diet of leaves & buds would literally starve to
death because its caloric expenditure would be five or ten times its
caloric intake! And squirrels VERY RARELY touch bird eggs. It's "heard
of," yes, but only just; for many squirrels will eat vastly more pizza
crusts in their lifetimes than will ever raid bird nests, so why weren't
pizza crusts on that list? Although the assertion is not incorrect,
because it DOES happen, the paragraph on food choices does not give a
correct general picture. So, BT found a frankly stupid list, first of all
wildly incomplete leaving off primary diet items but including less common
ones -- so that closing with the stupidest of all statements, that grey
squirrels build middens, just caps the worst part of the government
flunky's condensations & redactions.

It's a classic case of why anyone who relies exclusively on google
searches for the full sum of their knowledge will rarely acquire a working
knowledge of anything.

-paghat the ratgirl


-- Salty

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

And where in hell did I "flip out" in my earlier request for your source?! The
words "please provide your source" doesn't exactly sound like someone who is
"flipping out". But after all your blathering on and on, I note you still have
not identified any specific source behind your original assertion that squirrels
don't eat buds unless they are in starvation conditions.

Anyone can rant on ad nauseum quite easily. But since you have offered no source
then I will continue to stand by my original understanding that grey squirrels
do eat buds whenever they are available. It has nothing to do with how starved
they are...it is just part of a varied diet.

Now? Yup, now I'm flipping out! Oh, you can reply to this if you like, but I
won't be reading it so you might want to save yourself some time and not bother.
I've decided never to waste my time reading your incessant dribble ever
again...but I'm sure the rest of this group will love to read what you have to
say.

Oh mi'gosh, I've even top posted!!!!!

PLONK!

BT





"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "BT"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
news ...snip...
squirrels are horders like grey, douglas, & red squirrels. Most
people live near greys only, & the large squirrels will not harvest buds
unless their horded food resources ran out in late winter & there is no
choice of food BUT buds so early in the new year. As you found out, if
better food resources are provided to them in late winter/early spring,
red, douglas, or greys don't want buds.
...snip...
-paghat


paghat, could you please indicate your source for the above information
you have
shared with us. Or perhaps explain why grey squirrels that live in a
park next
to houses with birdfeeding stations filled with sunflower seeds and
cracked corn
still find the need to eat tree buds every year?

I have an EXTENSIVE personal library of books about all manner of rodents,
but the majority of what I've noted could be found even in the most
generic field gkuide such as National Audobon Guide to N.A. Mammals which,
for instance, does not mention buds as one of the grey squirrel's food
items because it is not their standard food item. That doesn't mean they
never eat them & I was clear on that, but squirrels' nutrient needs would
not be met by a diet of buds so it's a back-up food for emergency
conditions -- but as I said, squirrels have such rich personalities &
individuality that even unusual behaviors may occur in some populations.


Here is a reference that indicates the squirrels always eat buds..."When the
buds of elm, oak, and white and sugar maples are swelling, the squirrel may
be
seen perched precariously far in the treetops feeding on them and the
flowers or
catkins. Grasping a stem in its hands, the gray squirrel clips it with sharp
teeth, then, revolving the cluster, eats the buds one by one. For three
or four
weeks each year it lives largely on this delicate fare." , taken from


http://www.kellydickey.com/blackpowd...quirrel/graysq
uirrel.htm

"MAY EAT" is definitely NOT the same as your paraphrase "ALWAYS EAT," &
you certainly never caught me saying NEVER eat, in fact I adhered to the
facts of it, MAY eat. If what they ALWAYS eat, such as acorns or
beechnuts, are horded in sufficient quantities,they don't have to rely on
foods better suited for ruminants in winter. But I've in no way implied
they won't eat some opening buds -- I say (correctly) it is something they
eat only when their caches are empty & they have no other options. The
PRIMARY foods (for grey squirrels) acorn, hickery, walnut, beechnut,
peacan, maple & tulip tree seeds, & if cultivation fields are accessible,
the germ-end of corn kernels. One could add to that french fries &
picnickers' potato chips & gardeners' flower buds, sure, but not for
squirrels whose primary diet choices are adequate.

And here is another reference..."The Gray Squirrel is omnivorous, eating
buds,
leaves, fruits, seeds (mostly from deciduous trees), insects, and bird eggs
(Cowan and Guiguet 1973; Banfield 1974). Their preference for these food
items
changes with availability and phenological stage of the vegetation; swelling
buds are fed upon during early spring, flowers and samaras in late spring. A
variety of fruits (especially nuts) are eaten during summer and fall for
forming
a thick layer of fat (Banfield 1974; Woods 1980). This squirrel also
stockpiles
a winter supply of food in underground storage piles called middens. ",
taken
from http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/te...iscml20-07.htm

You certainly didn't see me saying anything different from that, so I
don't know quite why you're flipping out. But if you ever decide to become
bookish rather than googlish you'll get a more complete picture, but even
as an instant-googler you'll make better observations if you can only stop
misreading your scant paragraph of knowledge as "ALWAYS" where no such
errors appear.

It should be noted again that the Douglas or Red squirrel has a different
set of preferences. Grey & Red squirrel ranges by states overlap a great
deal, but they live in different forests. While the Grey would eat
PRIMARILY nuts & seeds of oak, beech, hickery, & maple, the red squirrel
would be in an old-growth forest & eat primarily pine nuts. But with
squirrels there are few absolutes, & studies of squirrel caches show they
both will harvest the others' preferred diets, plus some populations have
peculiar individualistic likes & dislikes.

Meaning that speaking in generalities is just that, & I've been clear with
each of my posts that these are general principles, not the absolutes &
alwayses you strangely wish to misread them as.


BT

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

jammer wrote in message . ..
On 21 Jul 2003 09:28:46 -0700, (Bill Short) wrote:

I have a problem with squirrels in my oak tree once the acorns come
out. I don't mind the squirrels at all but they chew off the tips of
the branches then come down to the ground to get the acorns off of
them. It makes both the tree and the lawn look horrible. I don't
want to put the aluminum cone around the tree to stop them from
climbing. Does anyone know of any kind of repellant that will keep
them from climbing my tree?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

I have a problem with squirrals in my two oaks. I don't have enough of
them!! Acorns are the ultimate squirral food and they need to start
stashing food for this winter. If i didn't want them, i would cut down
the trees. If they chew your branches, which i have never seen, then
they must chew my branches too, and my trees look great, year after
year.

Hope you find a solution. If the trees are old, the squirrals have
probably been counting on those nuts for a long time. Maybe you could
wack the nuts out of the tree FOR them...

I so glad a true expert could chime in on this issue. I had no idea
that squirrels eat acorns. You're sure about that right? Amazing.
You're probably also right when you say that they don't chew off the
tips of the branches. I'll bet it's my kids doing that. I'll have to
talk to them about that. And from what you say it sounds like the
only purpose for these trees is to produce acorns to feed squirrels
since you say you would cut them down if you didn't want squirrels.
Who needs shade and fresh air. Those things are overrated anyway.

In conclusion, your insights have been invaluable. If you think of
anything else I hope you'll forward it along. In the mean time I'd
better get up in that tree and starting whacking the nuts down.