Squirrel Problem

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Scamper733
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Squirrel Problem

Post by Scamper733 » November 6th, 2015, 11:10 am

I planted a hedge of Glossy Black Chokeberry this spring and they have been doing great, until this Fall. A squirrel has made it his mission to destroy all of these shrubs. I'm fearful the standard rabbit repellent will not be effective against the squirrels since the bitter spray is more efficient on the foliage vs the twigs, but I may be wrong on that.

Any recommendations on how to defend against this? If nothing, I'll need to take this to the offense with some traps, which would be my last resort. :club: I'm thinking of getting some bird/deer mesh to cover the shrubs, but thought the squirrel might just chew right through the mesh?


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Charley
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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by Charley » November 6th, 2015, 11:59 am

Repellants are pretty much useless for squirrels. It is either trap them or airgun solution.

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Scamper733
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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by Scamper733 » November 6th, 2015, 2:13 pm

Dang; trapping it is. Thanks for the advice, Charley.

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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by Charley » November 6th, 2015, 3:48 pm

One other thought on the squirrel problem. You should recognize that trapping a couple of squirrels one time won't really solve the problem. If you have squirrels in the neighborhood, there will be others that will move into the territory left open by the couple you remove. They really do travel over a fairly wide area - comparing them to chipmunks. Trapping will work but it gets a bit frustrating when they become trap shy. The airgun approach is also useful for dealing with those chipmunks. New ones are fairly quiet and pretty accurate within 30 yds. or so. Pellets are about 3 cents or less each.

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Scamper733
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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by Scamper733 » November 6th, 2015, 5:11 pm

I'm not one to avoid an opportunity to shoot something, but the way my house sits on a corner lot, I need to maintain some neighborly relations. Plus, it's illegal to even fire a pellet gun within city limits. We have probably 3 rouge squirrels running around our small neighborhood; which is up from 1 squirrel last year. I'm thinking if I can allow these Chokeberry to mature a little more, the squirrels will avoid them. If I get these 2 or 3 squirrels out of the area now, I might buy myself some time before others move in. Not sure what is so appealing about these Chokeberry that this squirrel is breaking into a fenced in yard to saw down twigs. First it was rabbits in summer, now squirrels in fall. I can't catch a break.


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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by turf_toes » November 7th, 2015, 12:28 am

Scamper733 wrote:I'm not one to avoid an opportunity to shoot something, but the way my house sits on a corner lot, I need to maintain some neighborly relations. Plus, it's illegal to even fire a pellet gun within city limits.
Yep. In New Jersey, a pellet gun is considered a firearm. Using it to shoot a squirrel in a residential area is a felony offense believe it or not. (Oddly, you can use pellet guns to hunt rabbits and squirrels during hunting season (and outside urban or residential areas)).


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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » November 15th, 2015, 2:31 pm

Not sure if this works for squirrels but for chipmunks you can set up a drowning trap by filling a bucket of water 5 inches from the top and then sprinkling food like corn on the surface to float. Chipmunks will fall in and then wear themselves out trying to escape and eventually drown. Squirrels would need a deeper bucket or a 55 gallon drum you can get for $15 on Craigslist.


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Re: Squirrel Problem

Post by Scamper733 » June 5th, 2016, 9:02 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up getting a live trap and caught the culprit a few weeks later, but not before he cut a few more bushes down. He was relocated to a park about 10 miles away. Haven't had an issue since.

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