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Old 19-01-2017, 06:37 AM posted to rec.gardens
David E. Ross[_2_] David E. Ross[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Oct 2009
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Default Racoons and squirrels eating avocados

On 1/18/2017 4:30 PM, Newgene McMensa wrote:
Well, the rascals are back. I don't mind them eating the fruit but there have been some raccoons caught around here with rabies. The squirrels run around like crazy - more than normal - there may be something wrong them too.

So the question is.... is there anything I can do to discourage them coming in the yard or backyard trees?

I hung some of the owls with glass eyes and I think that has worked near the owls, but not the rest of the tree.

Anyway, my goal is to keep them out of the year and the trees and not just scare them with decoys.

I thought about putting a solution of red pepper in one of those aspirator bottles you connect to a hose and spraying the trees and yard.

Anybody ever tried this? Or have another idea?


A local public garden had a severe squirrel problem in two white
mulberry trees. The squirrels would eat the new shoots before they
could leaf out. Apparently, the shoots give the squirrels a buzz; it is
like squirrel marajuana.

One early spring, the trees were sprayed with a watered mixture of
cayanne, liquid soap, and human urine. At first, none of the gardeners
wanted to do the spraying; but the donor of the urine was finally
convinced to do it. This kept the squirrels away from the two trees
until after they were in full leaf. The sqiurrels were not interested
in the mature foliage because it did not have the "magic potient" they
desired.

But that was only a temporary, one-year solution to the problem. Now
those two trees have bands of aluminum flashing wrapped around their
trunks. A few squirrels learned to take a running leap and clear the
bands so second bands now slightly overlap above the original bands.
This past summer, the trees that had appeared about to die because they
did not have enough foliage looked better than they had in years.

I am going to try the aluminum bands on my peach and loquat trees this
year. I will wait until just before the fruit starts to ripen -- spring
for the loquat and summer for the peach. If successful, I will add
bands to my grape vines.

Havahart has a large cage trap for adult raccoons, for which the best
bait is sardines.

Here in southern California, red squirrels can be killed because they
are not native but an import. Gray squirrels are native and protected
by law. I do not care which kind I catch. I live very close to the
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (a national park). Any
squirrels that I catch in my medium-size Havahart trap gets released
there. The Recreation Area contains many hungry coyotes, hawks, snakes,
and even a few eagles and mountain lions.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary