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daninthedirt

squirrels got the canteloupe

Had some very productive volunteer canteloupes this year. Got four fruits.

The first was eaten by a squirrel when it was softball size. It was actually hanging from a trellis 4 feet off the ground. So it HAD to be a squirrel.

I covered the rest of them with leaves/mulch to hide them.

The second was eaten by a squirrel.

I put one remaining one in a paper bag, and wrapped the other in tulle.

The squirrel pulled off the bag and ate the third one (leaving 3/4 of it for us to eat(. It was almost ripe. Not bad.

Now the squirrel has pulled the tulle off the third and eaten that. Ate it big time. About 70% eaten. Hard to believe that one squirrel ate that much. It must have had help.

So, my garden is capable of doing really well on canteloupes. Squirrel-proofing advice for next year, anyone? Actually, I'm going to start next year by trapping a bunch of the beasts and transplanting them. Way too many of them around.

I may have to make wire cages for the fruit, and lock 'em up.

By the way, my squirrels don't give squat about nasty flavors and smells (e.g. hot pepper, etc.). That failed on something else.

Comments (18)

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Last year, the squirrels got everything. They got all the corn, to the point where I gave up on growing it.

    This year, the squirrel population has greatly declined and they have little interest in my garden or fruit. One squirrel started in on my summer squash. I had words with it. After that, no squirrels raiding the garden.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Oooh. I need your "words"!

    Actually, I plan to trap the buggers and transplant them, but I hear that when you do this, new ones just move in to fill the ecological niche. What can I do to discourage that? It has seemed to me that, this year, there are just more squirrels around. Not sure why.

    I was successful trapping squirrels with a manually tripped trap last year, but I really don't want to wait them out if I'm going after a few. I've heard that the Havahart 1030 and 1040s are best for squirrels. 1025s are too small for squirrels. Comments? Anything better around?

  • glib
    10 years ago

    a hot wire, and you can grow sunflowers inside the hot wire perimeter. I am also blessed with a lot of hickory, black walnut, and oaks in the area, they are about 90% of wild trees. As soon as hickory nuts start falling in early August, squirrels will not bother anything. They are very numerous, but even in lean years they will leave sunflowers alone.

  • elisa_z5
    10 years ago

    My neighbors keep the squirrel population down for me by eating them. Can you shoot them in the suburbs?

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Killing squirrels is against local law. My down-the-street neighbor says to feed em'. That way they're less interested in your veggies, he says. Methinks that is not a long term solution, though. You'll end up with many more squirrels, either by procreation or immigration.

    Hmm. I could put food out in the middle of a busy street ...

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Some people disagree, but I've found that certain individual varmints cause a large proportion of the trouble. So you get rid of the troublemaker and the ones who move in haven't picked up its evil ways.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I believe that's true here. Last year I lost tomatoes and some eggplants. Squirrels all around. But putting a trap near the veggies, catching one and exiling it made all the problems go away.

  • rayrose
    10 years ago

    Are you sure it's squirrels that are eating your canteloupes?
    Unless you've actually seen them do it, I would suspect
    raccoons instead. Squirrels normally don't go after fruit that big,
    but raccoons will.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    No matter what critter is causing damage, you should use melon in the trap(s). That way you have a better chance of catching the one(s) responsible. As opposed to using some other type of bait and catching critters that aren't damaging anything.

    Rodney

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    10 years ago

    I've got hundreds of squirrels and they never bother anything in the garden.

    I have lots of Hickory and oak trees, I think that keeps them satisfied.

    The only time that I have ever saw them or any evidence of them being in my garden is in the fall when I put the tree leaves out there. They dig the nuts out!

  • glib
    10 years ago

    Squirrel's aggressiveness is related to food availability. For years they did not touch the raspberries at my former place. Then the emerald ash borer moved in the area, dozens of trees died (some of my neighbors are still heating with that wood), and the squirrels, who would normally eat ash seeds in July, started going crazy on the rasps.

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    10 years ago

    Around here, squirrels absolutely go after something that big. In the hopes of actually getting some kabocha squash, I have placed wire hoops that are covered with bird netting. We take to trapping them and shooting them as well and cheer on the red-tailed hawks that pick them up.

    I have a bird feeder away from the garden where I also place out bowls of water. This may have decreased the pressure somewhat but I was still finding them digging up my asparagus, grabbing tomatoes,eating the rhubarb, etc.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Very true, glib. I've never had more trouble with both squirrels and birds than last year, during the drought.

  • captaininsano (9b/13) Peoria, AZ.
    10 years ago

    I have been having an issue with rabbits but blocked all there entries to my backyard by burying wire fencing at entry points, I have one lone baby that is left that I have yet to be able to catch or scare out the gate, but that problem is pretty much solved. Now I have birds ripping out all of my seedlings even though I leave a bird bath for them. On top of that I now have a damn squirrel invading my mini pumpkin patch eating all of the the blossoms, I thought it was the rabbit until I opened the back door and saw the little assassin bolting out of the patch, I really don't know how to keep the squirrel away aside from trapping it, to be honest I have never even seen a squirrel in the flesh until the other day, aside from trips to the Grand Canyon. I do not have a dog, because I work a lot and I think it is to hot to keep them outdoors here, and no cat for the same reason. So I guess I have to trap it.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    SPRAY THEM WITH HOT PEPPER SAUCE. they feel the heat.
    They used to eat my seed corns.I put the seeds in bathroom tissue, soaked in hot pepper sauce. They tried a few and went away.

  • MzTeaze
    10 years ago

    I second the opinion of make sure it's squirrels. I never though I would see deer ambling around in my neighborhood but I've spotted them twice this summer around the time I was having a little trouble keeping tomatoes on my vine.

  • captaininsano (9b/13) Peoria, AZ.
    10 years ago

    I will try the hot pepper approach what dilution would work best.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Has anyone used the scarecrow sprinklers against squirrels? I can see frightening a deer, raccoon, possum, or cat with one. But squirrels are pretty resilient to water. In their tree-top nests, they get rained on all the time. So I have to wonder if they'd just laugh off a scarecrow sprinkler. Bath time!

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