Justin Diaz wrote:

In other news, squirrels and chipmunks (I have witnessed both) climb up my
shelves and make a general mess of my trees. Any effective ways of
capturing and relocating the beastly little creatures? Should I look into
the humane traps and drive a few miles to a new home for them? Any advice
is welcome. Thanks again, everyone.

Most mammals don't like capsaicin. It burns their little tongues and
foot pads, so they go away from where it is. Hot peppers contain
capsaicin...

I was plagued with squirrels digging in my pots. Raccoons rooting to
see what edibles there were. Went to a garden center and asked what
they had for that. I bought a $10 can of granulated hot peppers, black
pepper oil and sand, mostly sand. I didn't know that's what was in the
can until I opened it; they didn't mention sand on the label. Thought
it was too expensive for what it was so I decided to make my own. I
wish I had measured the ingredients, but the memory will have to do.

I went to a grocery store and bought a pound of dried hot peppers and
two clamshells of fresh habanero peppers. Fragmented the hot peppers
in my food processor with some Everclear grain alcohol (no
measurements, maybe 2 cups) to do an alcohol extraction of the
capsaicin. I did the same with the habs (stems and all). Added some
olive oil (couple cups) in which I have been infusing granulated black
pepper. Also threw in some ground white pepper (1/4 cup). Processed
the whole thing together, put it into a 1/2 gallon canning jar (nearly
full) and set it into a sink filled with hot water to further
encourage the alcohol extraction. After an hour or so, I tasted a
speck of it. Then I drank a glass and a half of milk in small sips
until the pain subsided merely to unbearable.

I took a couple cups of this mixture, combined it maybe 4 or 5 times
as much 1/4" chicken grit and broadcast it around on the soil of my
plants. That was a couple weeks ago. Not one squirrel or raccoon
assault since then.

Threw it around the area on the ground as well. That doesn't work as
well. Last night there were raccoons prowling, but they stayed well
away from the plants. Went after the bird seed.

Pastorio
in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

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