Squirrel Problems and Solutions

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Solutions to Specific Squirrel Problems
Bird Feeding Stations
Yards and Lawns
Indoors - Attics and Basements
Vegetable Gardens
Flower Gardens
Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes

Squirrel Control at Bird Feeding Stations

What attracts squirrels to your feeding stations is food so you want to start with blocking the squirrels’ access to food. Install a high quality, truly squirrel proof bird feeder like the Squirrel Buster or squirrel-proof your existing hanging feeder with a Squirrel Stop, making sure that nearby branches don't place the feeder within reach. You can also treat the seed-laden ground around the feeder with Ro-pel® or Get Away®, repellents that squirrels find distasteful. And for very little money you can treat your bird seed with Squirrel-Away™, a harmless product that doesn’t bother birds but effectively repels squirrels. If your feeders are in an open area not accessible to household pets then the Yard Gard, an ultrasonic repellent, can do a good job keeping squirrels away. Avoid the temptation to trap squirrels in a bird feeding area, especially if they are numerous. No sooner will you have a few trapped than the seeds will lure more in, and you will find yourself trying to "empty the sea with a spoon".

Lawn and Yard Squirrel Control

Here, again, the key to control is to block access to any food source, either by removing it or by applying a repellent to or around it. Trapping won't help because as soon as you remove some squirrels more will arrive.

You can block access to the food source by removing the source or applying a repellant. Get Away®, which repels both by taste and by smell but is not offensive to humans, is a good choice for keeping squirrels away from garbage. Get Away®, fresh fox urine, and Shake-Away™ (powdered fox urine) can be used to drive squirrels away from landscaped areas and lawns. Another repellent, Whole Control, which works by giving the soil a bad taste, does a good job of keeping squirrels from digging up lawns, landscaped areas, and gardens. If you are dealing with ground squirrels and know where they live, you may be able to gas them in their burrows. If your yard is fairly open you can use an ultrasonic repellent like the Yard Gard.

If squirrels are removing the stuffing from lawn furniture to line their nests spray the cushions with Ro-Pel®. Test a small, unobtrusive area first.

If you have squirrels who think the wires under the hood of your car are delicious try spraying the wires with Ro-Pel®. It imparts an unpleasant taste and the squirrels will find other things to chew on.

Indoor Squirrel Control

If squirrels have invaded the attic or elsewhere in your house you have a major problem. That’s because squirrels feel about their home the same way you do. They don’t want to leave; they may have family there; and they will apply all their energy and persistence to staying put.

An innovative and highly effective new tool called the Evictor, is much easier to use and more effective than the traditional trapping method. It's also a good way to get rid of other invaders like roof rats, raccoons and mice. The unit is non-toxic, safe and harmless to animals and the environment. Using an ultra high-intensity strobe light that flashes 90 time per second, the Evictor targets the animals' sensitive eyes and makes it unbearable for them. They usually vacate the premises in 1-2 days. And even if the offending squirrels' home is in a wall so long as they need to cross an open space to reach food or water, you can place an Evictor along their route.

The traditional way of getting rid of squirrels is by trapping them. We don’t sell killing traps because of the danger many of them pose to pets and people but live traps, appropriately baited with sunflower seeds or unshelled peanuts, will do the job safely and well. Place one, two, or more of these inside the infested area and/or outdoors at the places used by the offending squirrels to enter and leave the premises. If the offenders are flying squirrels (which are nocturnal) or red tree squirrels, use the smaller traps (17" x 7" x 7"). If the interlopers are other tree squirrels or ground squirrels, use the larger traps (24" x 7" x 7") which are also effective in trapping skunks and rabbits. If you plan to release the trapped squirrels alive, be sure to export them a good distance away–some say as far as seven miles–in order to prevent them from returning.

During the eviction process be sure to remove or interdict food sources in order to reduce the surrounding squirrel population as much as possible and thereby lower the chances of re-invasion. Then, once you are sure every squirrel is gone, inspect the outside of your premises carefully for all actual and potential entry portals. These should be plugged up and treated with Ro-pel® to prevent re-entry by fresh invaders. In the event the infested building is on posts, you can interdict the area around it with Mr. McGregor’s Fence®, a pet-safe, child-safe electric fence. If you can't plug potential access ways (such as gutter down-spouts providing access to the roof) spray the area around them with Get Away®. Be especially careful in your inspection, fencing, and plugging up if the potential re-invaders are flying squirrels, because they have pliable bodies and can squeeze through very small openings.

At this point you should also take steps to make the old infested indoor area inhospitable to house-hunting squirrels. Now is the moment to hang up some Critter Ridder, apply some Shake-Away™, or install the Victor Pest Chaser or Yard Gard–because while none of these will reliably evict squirrels in residence, all will reliably repel squirrels seeking a new home.

Whatever you do don’t poison the squirrels unless you have a high tolerance for ungodly smells.

Vegetable Garden Squirrel Control

Squirrels can be a real nuisance in vegetable gardens when they take nips from pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, etc., Repellent sprays don’t work well on vegetables, partly because many impart a bitter or undesirable taste to crops and partly because the plants grow fast, exposing new unsprayed areas to attack. Nor do traps work well, because after some squirrels are removed, the food source in the garden attracts more. Shake-Away™ (powdered fox urine) sprinkled on the ground or fresh fox urine put out in dispensers can work reasonably well for a time–at least until the squirrels deduce that despite the smell there are no foxes–but this should be regarded as a temporary measure.

The best way to keep squirrels and other small animals out of your vegetable garden is with a permanent, inexpensive electric fence. Mr. McGregor’s Fence® will zap critters without hurting them, pets or children. It will work 100% effectively against ground squirrels and if no low tree limbs overhang your garden it will also work 100% effectively against tree squirrels. And besides squirrels it will also keep out woodchucks/ground hogs, raccoons, rabbits, skunks, and opossums. The low barrier fence that runs behind the electrified wires needs to be reinforced with a squirrel barrier to keep squirrels from working through a mesh originally designed to keep out larger critters, but this accessory is affordable and easily installed.

Flower Garden Squirrel Control

If squirrels are digging in your flower garden apply Shake-Away™ (powdered fox urine) or fresh fox urine put out via dispensers around the border, or spray the areas involved with Whole Control (which gives the soil a bad taste), or else spray the ground with Get Away®, a repellent that works by both taste and smell but is inoffensive to people. If squirrels are eating your plants, a good remedy is to spray your plants with Ro-pel®, which won’t harm the plants but which gives them a bitter taste. If squirrels are digging up and eating your bulbs soak them in Ro-Pel® for a minute, let them dry and plant them as usual.

Squirrel Control for Fruit Trees and Berry Bushes

The best way to keep squirrels from fruit trees and berry bushes is to exclude them. This can be accomplished with the use of repellents like Ro-pel®, Get-Away®, Shake-Away™, and fresh fox urine (see Lawn & Yard Squirrel Control and Flower Garden Squirrel Control above) but these are usually temporary fixes and work until the squirrels catch on that there is no predator. If the fruit does not have long to ripen then these repellents may do the job until you are ready to pick the fruit.

If the fruit trees and berry bushes are accessible only from their base (not from nearby trees and overhanging branches) then surrounding them with the economical and easy to install Mr. McGregor's Electric Fence is a very effective solution.

Fruits and berries can also be effectively protected from squirrels with Bird-X® netting, a hard-to-chew product that also protects against birds, rabbits, and other garden interlopers.

The Yard Gard ultrasonic repellent has also been successful in discouraging squirrels that can jump from other trees onto fruit and nut trees. You can install the unit on the fruit tree and set it so that it targets the access point on the neighbor tree from which the squirrels invade.

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