Squirrel Damage Control Methods For Your Garden
Squirrels - adorably furry gymnasts, or hairy vandal vermin? It seems everyone has a different ‘tail’ (sorry) to tell about their experiences with these creatures.
For some of us, there is nothing more joyful than to sit and watch these bushy tailed creatures rush about comically looking for food. For others, they are a source of vexation. Take my Aunt and Uncle in Abbotsford, for example - they take a great deal of delight in their garden and the crops they grow. Yet, the other week, Uncle R reported to me in some dismay that the little “bushy tailed rodents” had ‘vandalized’ his only Squash.
Apparently this kind of behaviour isn’t totally unusual for squirrels. Other potentially 'heinous' crimes they may commit include:
* Stealing bird food out of bird feeders
* Damaging trees by stripping the back
* Raiding fruit crops
* Chewing on electrical wiring
* Killing baby birds in their nests
Five Kinds of Furry: Squirrels in British Columbia
Here in British Columbia we have five main types of squirrels: The native Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii), the native American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), the native Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), the non-native Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and the Black Squirrel, which is - as Wikipedia terms it - “a melanistic subgroup of the eastern grey squirrel”.
Unlike the red, Douglas and Northern Flying Squirrels who are protected native species in British Columbia, the non-native grey and black squirrels are listed as pests under section C of the Wildlife act, and therefore legal to kill (humanely) on private or crown land.
Still, for most of us (myself included), killing squirrels feels a bit drastic - even if are making a nuisance of themselves. So what to do? Below I’ll talk you through some of the methods used for controlling squirrel damage in the garden and offer my opinion on each in the hope that it will help you if you are having squirrel issues.
Douglas Squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii)
THE GOOD:
PRICKLY CARPET
Do you have a prickly bush in your garden? Maybe a Wintergreen barberry (Berberis julianae ) or Gorse (Ulex)? If you do, then prunings from these viciously armed plants can be used either sprinkled around the specific crop you want to protect, or even stapled to and around bird houses as a squirrel deterrent. Apparantly the harsh thorns are as painful to our little squirrel friends’ paws as they are to us. A cheap and effective deterrent, this is definitely something to consider.
SQUIRREL PROOF CAGING
If you don’t have prickly bushes in your garden, then building a squirrel proof cage around the crop you want to protect is a less aesthetic, but equally effective option. Chicken-wire is squirrel proof and relatively cheap to obtain from hardware stores, and a wooden frame can be built easily from the surplus wood you find in the DIY store bins (you can spend more and make it a work of art if you want, but the main thing is that it is sturdy and covers your crop).
PEACE OFFERINGS
Sometimes if you can’t beat them, you’ve got to join them - or at least, you might consider feeding them.
“What?!” you say, “Encouraging them into the garden is the last thing I want to do!”
Well, if they are in your garden anyway, and vandalizing your plants, giving them a plant like a hazelnut (Corylus) might be a good at distracting them away from your prized crops. It’s kind of like how superstitious folks in Cornwall, England would leave an offering (usually food) out to appease the ‘piskies’ - faery types who visited at night - in this way ensuring no mischief occurred.
In many ways, this method may be as superstitious as the folks who adhere to piskie-pleasing, yet it may work. This method would be especially good for those who want to protect their crops, but also enjoy watching the squirrels play in the garden. Squirrel fence-sitters, if you will.
Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
THE NOT-SO-GOOD:
TRAPPING
There are two main types of traps: humane kill traps as sold by Kania Industries Inc., and live traps such as the Humane Live Traps sold by Safeguard Products.
If you’re thinking, “Well, I don’t want to kill anything! I just want to send the squirrels on a nice holiday someplace else than my garden - maybe the nearby woods”, this is understandable - but realize that it is actually an offence to “ship or transport live Grey Squirrels to another location” under the British Columbia Wildlife Act, due to their detrimental effect on the native squirrel population. This pretty much means one of three things:
a) That if you trap them you have to keep them (it is also illegal to keep wild animals under the British Columbia Wildlife Act)
b) That if you trap them you have to kill them (not palatable to most of us)
c) That if you release them and manage not to get caught doing it, you live with the knowledge that you may have caused damage or change to an existing ecosystem by introducing a non-native species there.
Also remember that trapping during the breeding season has dire consequences for the squirrel babies (kittens) that are left behind. Without their parent they will likely die of starvation.
As you can see, trapping creates some rather sticky issues, so it’s not generally something I’d recommend doing.
ULTRASOUND
Ultrasonic squirrel deterrents are supposed to act as a deterrent by emitting high-frequency sounds that ‘rattle’ the squirrels. Usually a mid to high cost option, with varying opinions as to their effectiveness, I’d recommend giving these a miss. As with other ultrasound deterrents, it seems that after a while they lose their effectiveness anyway, as the squirrels get used to the sounds.
HOT STUFF
We all know how hot Cayenne pepper or hot sauce can be. Now imagine that heat on your nose or in your eyes a million times magnified. This is pretty much how a squirrel will feel if they come into contact with it. Using hot spices sprinkled onto the ground has been a known squirrel deterrent for some time, but as with the ultrasound traps, its effectiveness is under debate.
Not only would you have to spend quite a bit of money on hot sauce/pepper in a year if you wanted to protect your crops, this also seems to border on the sadistic. I give this one a thumbs down.
What about you? Do you have any stories to tell about your experiences with squirrels in the garden? Are they a nuisance or do you enjoy watching them play? Any methods of damage control not mentioned here that you have found particularly effective?