I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin


I have the same problem. I will be putting galvanised
chicken wire mesh over the bulbs and covering it with a light scattering of
earth. Need to pin the edges down though.

Andy.

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

....

Use galvanised chicken wire as suggested elsewhere. Or some physical
barrier which will allow the shoots to emerge but stop anything
burrowing underneath. As already suggested, peg the chicken wire
down. The best bet IMO is large staples made from galvanised metal
coat hangers etc. A physicl barrier is preferable to a chemical one
- i.e pepper, as the latter is liable to get washed away.

If you supply squirrels with peanuts right now, all they will do is
take as many as they can, and bury the surplus around your garden.

This can be entertaining to watch, as are squirrels in general.
But if you don't want them exhausting themslelves trying to
dig through hard ground in the middle of winter seraching for the
buried nuts - and sampling whatever else is at hand - it might be better
to hold off with the peanuts for now. When they still have plenty of
other food sources available in the form of rose hips etc.
And other peoples peanuts.

Not to mention the fact that the squirrels may be taking peanuts
at the expense of the birds. Who can be beneficial, in addition
to being a purely decorative addition to the garden.

michael adams

....






Cheers

Colin

You have solved a puzzle for me. I noticed lots of holes in the flower beds
where I had recently planted bulbs. I had assumed it was moles but I am sure
you are right that it is squirrels.

We have lived here for 4 years and have never been bothered by squirrels
before but this year we have got several. They have obviously been gorging
themselves on the bulbs - as well as the nuts we put out for the birds. That
I can put up with but yesterday saw one on the rose which climbs up the wall
of our house. So now I am panicking a bit in case they get in the eaves of
the house. I don't like the idea of killing them but don't see an
alternative

Jeanne


"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin

I have put some short canes in the ground around bulbs and connect up with
fishing line (randomly). It seems to have worked for me, perhaps they are
scared of being snared.... Also it doe's not look a mess like chicken wire.

HTH
Steve

" Jeanne Stockdale" wrote in message
...
You have solved a puzzle for me. I noticed lots of holes in the flower
beds where I had recently planted bulbs. I had assumed it was moles but I
am sure you are right that it is squirrels.

We have lived here for 4 years and have never been bothered by squirrels
before but this year we have got several. They have obviously been gorging
themselves on the bulbs - as well as the nuts we put out for the birds.
That I can put up with but yesterday saw one on the rose which climbs up
the wall of our house. So now I am panicking a bit in case they get in the
eaves of the house. I don't like the idea of killing them but don't see an
alternative

Jeanne


"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin

Gardening_Convert wrote:

I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin

it sounds to me like you are actually going to encourage them to hang
around. when you plant the bukbs you can plant them inside wire
cage/basket. you can sprinkle area and bulbs w/ red pepper powder.
i understand the frustration since one winter i lost 150 tulip bulbs to
voles. not a single plant survived. now i just stick to daffodils,
which they don't eat.
sherm

A squirrel has attacked two plastic based bird feeders. I managed to deterr
it by coating the base with grease (redundant flora margarine, then
vasilene) and cayenne pepper. The mixture washes off in the recent storms
but the squirrel does not try again for about a week. If you can get a cheap
source of pepper give it a go and combine it with grease to retard leaching.
I found in my old garden that they were very good at spotting small openings
in strawberry nets which had to be pinned thoroughly with bricks and rigid
canes.
Regards
David T
"nunya" wrote in message
news:jF5ef.7829$Vb.449@trndny05...
Gardening_Convert wrote:

I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

Cheers

Colin

it sounds to me like you are actually going to encourage them to hang
around. when you plant the bukbs you can plant them inside wire
cage/basket. you can sprinkle area and bulbs w/ red pepper powder.
i understand the frustration since one winter i lost 150 tulip bulbs to
voles. not a single plant survived. now i just stick to daffodils, which
they don't eat.
sherm

I am interested to collect as many ways as possible of deterring grey squirrels from damaging plants and eating bird seed - I'll be posting them on my anti-squirrel website Death to Grey Squirrels (www.deathtogreysquirrels.com) in due course. Please visit the website and add a comment on the Squirrel Forum there if you have any advice on this problem.

~Tufty, north London

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
I seem to have a problem with Squirrel's digging up and eating my
spring bulbs

Is there anything I can do to stop this ?

I have bought a Squirrel feeder this weekend and filled it with Peanuts
to try and distract them .

You should not under any circumstances feed these pests, get a trap from
Mole valley Farmers in Somerset and dispose of these rats.

Alan


Cheers

Colin

It may not be appropriate if you've got a large area to cover, but I mulched my bulbs (in pots) with slate chips, it seems to make them invisible to our squirrels. They dug through everything else!

bob

"david taylor" wrote in message
...
..
I found in my old garden that they were very good at spotting small
openings in strawberry nets which had to be pinned thoroughly with
bricks and rigid canes.

In my garden they made *large* holes in stawberry nets or enviromesh -
just tore them to shreds. Our fruit cage is now covered with wire
netting. As for the bulbs - wire netting pegged down and covered with
a light mulch seems to work.
--
Rod

My real address is rodtheweedygardeneratmyweedyisp
Just remove the weedy bits
and transplant the appropriate symbol at.

I've just had a look at the cost of chicken wire to protect my plot and
I think I'll just take the risk of the damage !!

"Ben" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:05:20 -0000, "david taylor"
wrote:

A squirrel has attacked two plastic based bird feeders

I made a squirrel feeder which allows the little buggers in but keeps
the birds out. I first of all, for about two weeks, fill it with nuts
to train 'em to feed....then after training is complete I fill it with
rat poison. I end up about 6 months squirrel free....then the squrrels
and I have to start all over again. But in the end its well worth it.


What a good idea, I'll have to try something similar with all the pesky
birds that pull up my seedlings, peck my fruit, nick the berries off my
holly, etc. I've got one of those devices which squirts water at herons and
cats and the like - I'll try filling it with acid. These wild creatures have
no right to come into people's gardens and just help themselves :-(

BAC wrote:
What a good idea, I'll have to try something similar with all the pesky
birds that pull up my seedlings, peck my fruit, nick the berries off my
holly, etc. I've got one of those devices which squirts water at herons and
cats and the like - I'll try filling it with acid. These wild creatures have
no right to come into people's gardens and just help themselves :-(

I had to read this 3 times. I was horrified. I was like jumping on my
seat, thinking about all the things I was gonna tell you and I thought
to write in CAPITALS too. I thought there's mad people in here .....

The 'acid' gave it away tho )

"Ben" wrote in message
...



I made a squirrel feeder which allows the little buggers
in but keeps the birds out.

Ben.


Given that squirrels are probably four times larger than birds,
if not more in some cases, that's some achievement.

Perhaps you'd like to provide some details.



michael adams

....