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Post by Devon on May 21, 2012 19:29:35 GMT -5
So, squirrels have already dug up a big lot of my plants outdoors. I put covers on the bins that the flytraps and Drosera are in, but my Sarracenia are too tall for covers. They already chewed off a couple of flowers and dug up a couple of small plants...
So, my question is, does anyone know the secret to repelling squirrels from your plants? My mom won't stop filling the bird feeders, which is what keeps them in my yard.
Anything is appreciated.
Thanks!
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Post by nwflytrap on May 21, 2012 20:01:37 GMT -5
A bow with a blunt tip arrows works well. Sorry Devon, but that's my best tip. Our dogs do a decent job of keeping them away, but if they aren't outside they just come back over. Not feeding the buggers seems to be the best way to remove the problem, unless you like squirrel stew..
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Post by lloyd on May 21, 2012 20:14:24 GMT -5
I had this great cover that I used to use for my outside sarrs. It had a springy framework that expanded into a mesh cage that easily covered the plants. It had places to stake it in the ground. There were tons of skunks, raccoons, birds and squirrels and the plants never got attacked. Garden places have them.
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Post by Devon on May 21, 2012 20:17:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies James and Lloyd.
Lloyd, do you have any pictures? That sounds great.
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Post by lloyd on May 21, 2012 23:13:06 GMT -5
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Post by H2O on May 22, 2012 0:42:00 GMT -5
I had the same problem last year. I wanted to put out rat traps but there was too many cats in my area (which I guess is sort of ironic given the situation)
I'm not a fan of covering my plants but if you had any sort fence or wall to deter them it could help, most of the time they dig up plants and bite them just because they're exploring around so anything to deter will help.
I'm also a fan of a large bucket in the ground filled with water, although some people think that's going a little far.
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Post by shoggoths on May 22, 2012 9:24:43 GMT -5
Lloyd solution could come handy to me ... Crows come to take the sphagnum to do their nests $%?$%?
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Post by Devon on May 22, 2012 14:57:26 GMT -5
Thanks fro your feedback Lloyd, H20, and Shoggoths. I'll try what Lloyd said. Perhaps I can make my own this summer!
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Post by will20013 on May 22, 2012 18:06:49 GMT -5
Hey Devon, I just started a mini bog this year and have had the same type of problems, I found that placing chicken wire over (dome shape) and around the plants helped to deter the squirrels!!!!! Hope this helped, Will
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Post by peatmoss on May 23, 2012 5:46:12 GMT -5
If you are really into it, you can make a nice frame for some screen out of PVC pipe, should be fairly solid, and will hold up in a windstorm if you stake it down.
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Post by lloyd on May 23, 2012 14:45:10 GMT -5
It doesn't have to be super strong. Animals don't like getting caught in netting. It's annoying to them and they generally will not try to break in.
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Post by mike on Aug 20, 2012 5:09:20 GMT -5
old post but this might help others. i used tomato cages wrapped with a plastic fencing. seemed to keep rabbits away from seedling trees i had in the past.
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Post by Rick Hillier on Aug 20, 2012 9:33:25 GMT -5
An old post, but a current problem, I`m sure for most with outdoor bogs.
I found this stuff called "Cat Scat" at Lee Valley, which is basically a section of plastic gridwork with approximately 1" openings in it. At the intersection of each piece of the grid, there is a 1" high blunt plastic spike that will deter alot of this activity (poke 'em in the belly or foot). I've still had a few tender new pitchers munched on, but the biggest problem for me was the digging that would result in plants being yanked out of the ground.
The rodents dig down beside and under a plant looking for a bulb or something nice to stash away somewhere. They don't seem to care about the rhizomes of the sarracenia, but when they get sloppy or leave too many roots exposed, or worse, uproot the whole plant, the plant suffers or dies if you don't correct it fast enough, and even if you do, the plant is set back quite a bit.
For the most part, this stuff seems to be working, but I may try something with chicken wire next year before the growth starts using stainless steel rods with a hole drilled across the top for fastening the chicken wire. Set it up so that the chicken wire is around 1 or 2" above the soil level and it may work. The sarracenia would still be able to shove their pitchers up through the openings and the smaller stuff should still be fine.
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Post by dorven5 on Oct 27, 2012 12:43:00 GMT -5
Smear garlic onto your pots and into the water, maybe even make a garlic mash and smear it on the plants... squirrels HATE garlic and it's stench makes them ignore the area that had it.
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Post by Apoplast on Oct 27, 2012 14:49:52 GMT -5
Hi Dorven - I'm not convinced of your garlic trick. Squirrels have been destroying my veggie garden all summer, and this autumn they went down the rows and dug up and perhaps ate all of my garlic cloves I planted for next year. Squirrels are just rats with good PR agents!
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