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#1
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 |
#2
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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. |
#3
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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 |
#4
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 |
#5
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 |
#6
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 |
#7
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 |
#8
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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 Quote:
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#9
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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 |
#10
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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 |
#11
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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. |
#12
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 !! |
#13
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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 :-( |
#14
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
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 ) |
#15
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stop Squirrel's eating my spring bulbs
"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 .... |
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