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Squirrels digging up my bulbs

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How do I disabuse the local squirrel population of the belief that my containers are full of tasty snacks?

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  • 43722
    43722 Posts: 255 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    I have used chicken wire in the past. Just below the surface of the pot, and cut to the same dimensions. Seemed to work.
  • Ganga
    Ganga Posts: 4,253 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    bouicca21 wrote: »
    How do I disabuse the local squirrel population of the belief that my containers are full of tasty snacks?

    You dont,enjoy mother nature :rotfl::rotfl:
  • Ganga
    Ganga Posts: 4,253 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    bouicca21 wrote: »
    How do I disabuse the local squirrel population of the belief that my containers are full of tasty snacks?

    You dont,enjoy mother nature :rotfl::rotfl:
  • Apodemus
    Apodemus Posts: 3,410 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Ganga wrote: »
    You dont, enjoy mother nature...

    ...in the form of squirrel pie?
  • Silvertabby
    Silvertabby Posts: 10,099 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Eighth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Try sprinkling chilli powder/cayenne pepper over the pots.
  • jackomdj
    jackomdj Posts: 3,073 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    If you can't beat them, feed them! We feed our squirrel family that lives in our tree peanuts. We did buy a special feeder, but when that broke a couple of years ago we just let them feed from the bird feeder (great fun as they have to jump to it then hang upside down to eat.
  • Linda32
    Linda32 Posts: 4,385 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I've got some old wire office 'in trays' / 'out trays' which I pop over the top.

    They might not look very nice but since I only see the garden 2 days a week in the winter it doesn't matter.
  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Ta everyone. I think squirrel pie might be a bit tough on the teeth unless casseroled first. And let’s face it there can’t be a lot of meat on them so I’d have to catch several. Thus requiring a new thread on squirrel traps and humane killing methods.

    I draw the line at feeding them. They are after all descended from unwanted immigrants:rotfl:

    And being a townie I have no chicken wire. Fortunately the squirrels seem more intelligent than I realised. Having dug deep and scattered bulbs far and wide, they are now giving me a break.
  • frankie
    frankie Posts: 848 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    Wickes, B&Q etc sell various sheets and rolls of wire. I got some 1cm sq mesh sheets which I cut to shape to fit over pots of bulbs.

    Grey squirrels are vermin and have no place in our environment, thus I employ traps with various levels of success/failure!
  • Ganga
    Ganga Posts: 4,253 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    frankie wrote: »
    Wickes, B&Q etc sell various sheets and rolls of wire. I got some 1cm sq mesh sheets which I cut to shape to fit over pots of bulbs.

    Grey squirrels are vermin and have no place in our environment, thus I employ traps with various levels of success/failure!

    I agree greysquirrels are not indiginous but at the end of the day if humans keep killing animals it wont be long before even more species are wiped out,the amount they eat is minimal and if you look out the window to view your garden and there is no wildlife what is the point.
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