Persephone wrote:
On 11 May 2007 16:11:06 -0700, foo wrote:

This is a thread destined to be flamed. So be it.

Dear PETA,

Don't read this.

onward.

I have squirrels (oh yes, those cutesy little scamps running around
with nuts in their mouths climbing trees and spreading glee throughout
the land) that are not only digging up my brand new seedlings but
terrorizing the pots they reside in as well. So far they have killed
at least ten burgeoning plants. No more. I'm going walking tall on
these punks very soon if I can't get some advice. (please).

So, without further adieu

ADO

here is my question:
What is a safe and relatively easy alternative to preventing these
*******s from eating my seedlings (and digging into the soil)?

[...]

In case you do decide to "terminate them with extreme prejudice" (as
they used to ? say in the CIA), be sure to eviscerate *before*
broiling (or your preferred method of preparation).


Alrighty guys, Maddie here, speaking for me friend Ethyl who has the
fluffy tailed nutter by the Eastern Tennessee HORDES.........we have
worked on this for three years now, and we've come up with a PARTIAL
solution.. the main thing that deters the little shits is a good THICK
mulch of sharp and pointy rocks to deter them from digging..... they
ADORE deep, compost and loose mulchy soils. They THRIVE on the ideal
burying places of hanging pots, container gardens (I have discovered
numerous "volunteer" black walnuts growing in containers and I KNOW they
didn't fall into them......the offending black walnut trees on my
property are several scores of feet from these containers), thank
goodness they pull up easily...........the other deterrents appears to
be dusting with ground red cayenne pepper........I have decided that her
other problem, the nibbling bunny horrendous suburbius is the other
reason she has nibbled shoots of hosta, seedlings and such scattered
about......so I recommended a trial effort.......take petroleum Vaseline
and mix in the afore mentioned ground red cayenne pepper (I buy it in
restaurant sized containers at me local Sam's Club.........) and smear
it upon the plants.......maybe we could take some assorted nuts and
spritz them with peanut oil, sprinkle heavily with red cayenne pepper
and roast a bit to infuse them and see if the fluffy tailed nutters
"bite"..............

personally, I recommend a nice stew with some aeromatic's like celery, a
crunchy Vadalia onion and some garlic and simmered until tender, then
throw in some potato's, some carrots, a sweet potato and simmer until
the veggies are tender............yummmmmmmmmm!! as fat and HUGE as
Ethyl's are, it only would take two of them puppies (squirrels, not
puppies) to make a meal for four or five!! The biggest problem would be
of course if they LIKED the taste of the cayenne pepper and were Cajun
fluffy tailed nutters!

try the rocky mulch, though and the red pepper..........

madgardener up on the ridge, back in Faerie Holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36 where the trees
are FINALLY recuperating from the hard freeze from a few weeks
ago.............