I tried this. Even 3 pounds of bird food (sunflower seeds, whole nuts, grains) and a bunch of kitchen scraps (apple cores, carrot pieces, etc) every single day wasn’t enough to keep them satisfied. They tore up most of my plants. Took the bark off my star jasmine, chewed big bites into the aloe plants, ate the melon plants to the ground, killing the plants (every leaf, every flower gone), took a ton of unripe citrus off my trees, ripped off every fig before they could ripen, picked off the baby pomegranates, broke most of the branches off my blueberry bush eating every last berry, ate half the corn plants, ate every last sunflower and sunflower leaf (there are only stems left), ate my calendula flowers to the ground, left their paw prints all over my car engine, tore up the plastic dividers between the concrete panels in our backyard, and ate the bird eggs in the nest by our garage. And I have 3 bird baths, so they have plenty of water. I tried all the things (cages around the garden beds, hot pepper spray, garlic powder, forks, etc). We even have a red tail hawk and great horned owl and coyote pack that come by regularly. Sometimes the owl is sitting 15 from the squirrels on the ground and they don’t seem to care. Nothing works. I don’t think any amount of food would be enough to satisfy them. I would suggest that people try to keep them out of their property, instead of inviting them in to eat. You don’t want to end up with squirrels that are never satisfied.
Thanks for this! I had to get rid of my planeter boxes around our patio that I put up with lavender to keep mosquitoes away, and they were great... except the squirrels kept diggin into them hiding their nuts. Now they tore up my gazebo, completely ruining it in a matter of one morning of destruction! I covered the tops of the fence and railings with fragrant soap and Critter Ridder (combo of peppers and such) hoping that will keep them from coming back, but I think I'll add a plate of your recommended squirrel food just over the other side of our fence in our apartments courtyard in hopes that'll keep them little rascals away from inside our patio and off our repaired gazebo!!! Wish me luck and thanks again for your advice! 😎 🐿 🔫
This is exactly what my boss said she does and she doesn't have any problems at all while everyone else she knows does have problems. Thank you for sharing.
Ty for this. Half the advise seems to be from sociopaths who recommend caging as many as possible and dropping them in a trash can full of water. This is a much more intelligent way when you live in a neighborhood full of them.
I’m going to try this! Thanks for the idea! They keep digging in my garden and plant pots so I won’t mind leaving peanuts and squirrel feed away just to keep them out of my garden! Plus less of a expense then a damaged garden, plants and all! Thanks again! Plus it’s less inhumane
Grey squirrels will bite and ruin tomatoes no matter how much food they are given. They bite tomatoes because they are a water source. I place 2 Havahart 1083 EZ set traps between the bird feeder and garden. Problem solved 464 times and still counting.
My garden instructor said the same thing!! Have a separate location for the squirrels and chipmunks!!! I STILL protect my garden with netting red pepper flakes whatever I need to do to send MY MESSAGE KEEP OUT! THANK YOU FOR SHARING 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Great idea!! Those little guys ate all my planted corn. So pissed, so far you have the most logical advise I’ve found. Definitely going to try this. Thank you!
I was told the same thing by our guy at the Home Depot garden center. The box trap didn't work for us, but I did catch a big toad. I'm going to try it, because those squirrels go in with my chickens and ducks. I've caged off the veggie beds, which is inconvenient when you want to get into them. Thanks for this video.
Additional: 30 yrs ago only 1 elderly neighbor fed the squirrels. And we ALL had problems. But our dog and cat were somewhat helpful deterents. Our neighbor saddly died. But the squirrel issue did go away. Yrs later a new squirrel-friendly-neigbor moved in and we would find massive amounts of shells in our yard. We are elderly now ourselves and without pets. I have spoken with our neighbor, kindly, showed movies of the chewing in the high tree branches, the irrigation blowouts, given them printouts from wildlife experts. One spouse listened, agreed they did not need to pour out a bucket of peanuts a day. But the other spouse was livid. Needless to say, nothing changed. We do what we can. They do what they want. Squirrels are more important than people. How about both are important? The natural order is good for wildlife/town life/people life/ neighborliness. Nature provides what a squirrel population needs. If there is scarceness, the squirrels know naturally how to move to better locales, they slow down their litter production accordingly. Understanding their cycles and needs is not a misplaced human sentimentality. It is honoring of all
Thank you. Now don't get me wrong, my family does eat meat, and I do hunt for our food, but I am not into senseless killing or injuring animals. Even if they're a nuisance in the garden. My wife loves squirrels so for her to get the enjoyment of naming them and watching them eating is another plus for me.lol. Thanks for watching the video, Have a great night.
Haha we're meat eaters too. We don't hunt but our friends give us moose, cod and birds. Newfoundlanders had to live off the land to surviveand most still do.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I have fed 464 grey squirrels carcasses to our local wildlife at night and they are always gone the next morning. Win-Win Possums and fox need to eat too.
They've been annoying the hell out of me. Would hunt and eat them if it was legal in this area.(legal all across the state, just not in this location) Hot peppers have helped in the past, but I'm tired of having to grind it up and sprinkle it everywhere. Fake owls didn't work. Part of why I'm looking this up now is I just watched a big fat squirrel dig up my garlic and then sit on top of the fake owl. Feeding them also hasn't worked. Been feeding the squirrels, the foxes, the birds....maybe I should stop feeding the foxes. 😂😰
Finally someone who has addressed this issue properly on UA-cam. I do this as well and they don’t bother the bird feeders as well as the garden. You will never be rid of squirrels no matter what method you use, why not just enjoy them because they can be great entertainment!
That doesn't work. The squirrels are very destructive. They still will dig up and eat my tomatoes and other things. Yes...they eat my tomatoes. Fox squirrels. Gray squirrels. let alone tearing up new plants.
My neighbors feed squirrels raw peanuts on the other side of our fence. Then they bury them in my yard. We now have peanuts growing everywhere, even in my potted plants. I leave them since they are a nitrogen fixer. The squirrels still get in my garden and dig stuff up but as long as they want to share their peanuts, I’ll leave them be. Lol. 😅
wow dude that was so unexpected. and i love that its not gonna hurt them in anyway. gonna try it from today. build a nice little feeding place. lets see.
Yeah man the birds eat from it too, but it doesn’t really keep them out of the garden for me tho lol. Luckily they don’t really damage anything. It seems they just go in there and pick off bugs, which I’m totally cool with. How did you do on the bridge the other night?
I guess anything is possible. Luckily we have not dealt with any of these issues. I’d like to add that our neighborhood has a huge population of squirrels. Always has and always will. So my feeding them hasn’t brought any into my yard that wouldn’t have already been here, but it just keeps their attention at a food pile rather than my garden and fruit trees.
HEY MAN GREAT ADVICE ON THIS tree rat problem...i HAVE noticed when i have extra nuts i throw out for my rabbit they eat good and go!!! shucks id hate to see a squirrel hurt in a cage also....much needed info about them box traps too...i hope folks see this VID brother...;)
That would be ideal if it was only a handful of them, but on a large scale that would be costly. Sad about those trapped squirrels, won't be trying that. Thank you.
They are killing one of my bonsai trees, it's a maple tree and it keeps eating the new leaves. Extremely frustrating to deal with. It produces no fruit at all so it isn't that :/ they ate their way into a bag of organic fertilizer too oddly enough. So I should start feeding them? Seems like that'd be asking for trouble 🤔
Well, no offense but it sounds like you’re already having trouble. I’m not going to promise you that this solution will definitely work for you because several people on here have left me comments saying it doesn’t work for them, but I was just trying to share what works for me. That being said, many people have also told me this method works for them too. It is very common for squirrels to eat the new growth of a maple tree. This is something that I witness every year in the woods while I’m deer hunting. After all of the acorns from the fall have been consumed the new buds emerging from the maple trees are the next target. As far as a squirrel eating fertilizer, I’ve never seen that. I would imagine there is some ingredient that’s attracting them. It sounds to me like they’re hungry, and there’s nothing better for them to eat.
Thank you so much. I been waiting to see how to deal with this before planting my corn. They eat the neighbors avocado and that has kept me from planting 😟. Thanks so much 💕🙏
I live on a lake in Pinellas County. I took your advice and began feeding the squirrels on a patio that is pretty far away from our garden. It worked for a while, but then the ducks started coming to eat the food. We now have about 45 ducks swimming in our pool every day making a huge mess and eating all the squirrel food. I don't have any trees to build something for the squirrels, and they have resorted to eating all of our garden again. Any suggestion for ducks and marsh hens?
I’d try it but they probably would still diversify their pallets and keep eating my mulberries and mangoes for the sweetness. That’s as easy to eat as a plate of nuts.
I will try this. I hate squirrels but realize I won't get rid of them. Won't use the cages for the reasons you stated. Plus I would be afraid to get close enough to let them go into the wild.
I'm afraid the squirrels at my place see my garden as a delightful challenge and an opportunity to check out what I am doing. I told the squirrels to stay out of my garden and their response was, "challenge accepted!".
Thanks brother. I do wonder if it’s better for me to just keep using cayenne pepper and rock mulch because if I feed them I believe they won’t be doing the jobs that God gave them to do. You know what i mean? They probably won’t plant as many oak and hickory trees in this wooded area as they do when they burry the seeds. I live next to a small forest, but if I were in a residential area I would probably do this
I am thinking of doing this as they are getting in my garden. How much do you have to spend on seeds? I have seen over the years a squirrel sit at a bird feeder and eat pretty much, the whole thing. Which seeds do they seem to like?
Hello, and thanks for watching. I am sure they have a preferred food, but I don’t know what that is, maybe peanuts or corn cobs. I honestly just buy the biggest cheapest bag of bird food from the store. It’s usually between 6-10 dollars. I just try to get the biggest bang for my buck.
A Havahart model 1083 EZ set trap is the best solution to a grey squirrel problem. I have disposed of 470 grey squirrels which became food for scavengers. Win-Win
I've heard this...the only problem is that your garden is at least 2X as big as my little 30'x40' Brooklyn garden, so I don't have an area that's away from the plants. I'm at wits' end 😢
Well technically my garden is only about 20’ x 40’+or-, but luckily I have more backyard than that to put food out. Wish I had another solution for you.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Really?? Wow, it looks much bigger. But I that's my total space, so I think you're not counting where your treehouse and play area as part of the garden?
Squirrels are very territorial. Just wondering, have you taken that into consideration? All the squirrels that are around your yard could very well not be allowed to the feeding station by other squirrels. Also, in the fall they will want to bury their food, just like they do with acorns and nuts. Thus, the digging continues with the food from the feeder. I would love to know if your system is actually working. If so, you have solved a lot of peoples problems! Let’s hear from you. Thank you.
First off thank you for watching and leaving the questions, I really appreciate it. Secondly great questions, I’m going to try my best to answer them without writing a book lol. So, this method absolutely works for me. I’ve done it for a couple of years now, and it keeps the squirrels out of my garden. That was the reason I shared the experience in my video because it actually works for me. You’re absolutely correct about them being territorial to an extent. Like any other animal in the kingdom they have what we call a pecking order. I have definitely seen many times where a more dominant male squirrel is feeding with a subordinate squirrel nearby. As the younger squirrels encroaches on the alpha male’s territory, the dominant squirrel will chase him off, then return to the pile. Honestly, that’s why if you notice in my video I have more than one pile of feed out at a time. Although I will add, that if for whatever reason there is only one pile of food with a territory thing going on, the squirrels never end up giving up and scavenging the garden. The pile always holds their attention, and they just compete over the free tasty food. Now to address the burying of acorns lol. A couple of people have brought up the fact that squirrels will go bury nuts and acorns, and that is accurate. However, it doesn’t seem to be a substantial problem in my garden. I would be lying to say that I have never Seen a squirrel burying an acorn in my mulch, but it’s 100% truthful to say that a squirrel has never dug up a plant, eaten my seeds before germinating, eaten a fruit or vegetable before I can harvest or negatively affected my plants at all. I think the bigger problems appear when the acorns are all eaten up ( besides the ones that got buried) and there’s no more succulent young growth in the trees to be eaten. At this point the squirrels look for their next food source, and if you have a luscious young garden with tender plants they might just go for that. Or they might just start trying to dig up the acorns that they’ve buried, but they can’t remember where they’ve buried them so they start digging holes everywhere. OR, you can have a couple of piles of food laying around, and it will hold their attention. It’s just too easy for them. I’m sure at some point someone is going to tell me that this method didn’t work, and my answer will be that nothing in this world is perfect, but the method 100 % works for us. So if a few people try it and it works then I’m happy.
All great thoughts for you, and thank you for taking the time to reply with good information. Everything you said sounds good, and you have helped me rule out some concerns. However, I still can’t help but wonder if my squirrels will try to bury the food source that I put out for them. You see, I have a moss lawn, it’s a beautiful velvet pad, and when they dig it up, it looks horrible, and takes a long time to repair. If I put out sunflower seeds or peanuts as the distraction food, I’m just wondering if they will try to bury them in anticipation when things get tougher this winter. And then, they will spend all winter digging around looking for them. Anyhow, your ideas are great and I’m willing to give it a try! Thank you.
@@danmccartney7758 well I guess the only way to know for sure, is to give it a shot. This is just my theory, but even if they bury a little to store away for harder times ,they shouldn’t ever need to go digging it up. If you continuously feed them, then the instinctual switch in their head to start digging around searching for hidden food never gets flipped. Meaning if you keep food for them they’ll never have to go searching. If that makes sense lol. If you do happen to try this I hope it works for you.
I feed them, too and they still go in my plants. I tried for a few years to put Cheyenne pepper, black pepper, and chili pepper around the plant ....no success.
Dang what a bummer. A couple of people have also said they put out food, but the squirrels still bother their garden. This works so well for us, I really thought it would work for all squirrels. Hopefully I at least helped someone with this video. Sorry it didn’t help you.
How do you deal with rats & mice being attracted to the food as well? I ended up getting mice in my house an rats in my wood pile from feeding squirrels & birds. So now we don't feed them & have stopped doing wood heat, switched back to electric. Became not only would we get sick but we have a baby that could sick & die from having them around. 😟
Many people trap grey squirrels because they are relentlessly raiding bird feeders. Your solution is only working because you have no bird feeders. And I'm also not understanding why you have grey squirrels that will not bite and ruin tomatoes regardless of how much you feed them ? What kind of garden doesn't have tomato plants ?
Well you’re just full of assumptions aren’t you Billy? First of all we do have two bird feeders in our yard, and yes the squirrels eat out of the bird feeders, which doesn’t bother us, but honestly my video is about keeping them out of the garden. I stated nothing about keeping them out of bird feeders, so I’m struggling to find the relevance here 🤷🏽♂️. Also I’ve grown tomatoes every year since I started gardening 14 years ago. So not sure where your assumption comes from? I can guarantee that I’ve never said that I don’t grow tomatoes in my garden, and in fact I have several videos about growing tomatoes, so yeah. I’ll also add that I’ve never once had a tomato be bothered by any animal. The only pests I deal with regarding them are bugs. If you want to eradicate them and feed them to the buzzards, by all means have at it. I’ve personally hunted and eaten hundreds of squirrels myself, but not from an urban area. Most people don’t have the stomach to kill a squirrel and leave it out for the scavengers, so this video was for them. So you keep doing you, but I’d stop assuming so much. Cause when you assume things you just make an ASS of U & ME.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA You must have a different kind of grey squirrel down in the HillBilly states than we have in PA. Up here grey squirrels are notorious for ruining tomatoes because they are a water source and you can't change that by "feeding them" unless you have some magical squirrel food that no one else knows about.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I've disposed of 462 grey squirrels in approx. 6 years and I have NEVER caught 2 squirrels in the same trap at the same time. I can't even imagine what kind of trap you would use that would make that possible.
I'll have to try this. Only problem is, they bury seeds...in my lawn, and in my garden :( This may only be seasonal though - as fall/winter draw closer they start storing their food. I guess I'll find out.
If you feed them then they will just still dig in your garden to burry their food, we tried feeding them and they still dug out our plants and bit all my veggies, we also have a pond they drink from so I know they are not biting them to get moisture since they have acsess to water. We are at Witt’s end with these squirrels and contemplating giving up gardening and or moving to a home without so many trees like we have. :(
I grumbled the whole way to the pet food aisle thinking about how much I’d rather just build Fort Knox to keep them out because they’re a-holes. Then, I remembered your logical voice and just put out the bird seed. Thanks so much for the video.
Cool idea. As far as trapping and releasing squirrels somewhere else...that may actually be illegal in some areas. Trapping the little guys is just a bad idea.
Just wonderful. My neighbour does this and guess what? They come to our house. Everyone doing this is just creating problems for everyone else. This is an absolutely horrible, selfish idea and no, not everyone wins...your neighbours hate you.
Oh contrary, my neighbors don’t hate us at all. There has been no increase in squirrel population since we’ve been feeding them. They were here when we moved here, and they’ll still be here when we leave. I could either let them eat my garden and keep you happy or feed them and keep us happy. Seems like someone might have some anger issues.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Angry because our neighbour does it and the vermin bury the nuts in our yard. We cannot keep vegetables, so yes. And if your neighbours aren't telling you, that doesn't mean they don't feel it. We don't say anything either because "the neighbourhood" but he has had anonymous letters. Trust me, They hate you.
@@teedot2791 no, trust me, they don’t. We have no problem telling each other when we’re pissing each other off. Two of our neighbors feed them as well, and they don’t bother their gardens either. I don’t feed them nuts. I feed them bird seed. They don’t bury it, they just eat it. And like I stated before, the squirrels were already here when we got here. So it’s not like I somehow called them in all the sudden. Maybe you should stop being soft, and tell your neighbors how you feel. Instead of busting my bass on here. Have a great day.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Oh, and as an added bonus, the squirrels and chipmunks eat the wires inside our cars (those wires are coated in soy, which the vermin love). Busting your ass? I'm telling you the truth. You may live in a lovely wonderful fantastyland neighbourhood, but not everyone does and feeding vermin is idiotic.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA my neighbors feed the heck out of them and there was about 50 squirrels in the last 1.5 acres. 1 tree had over 100 mangoes on it last year and I didn't know about the bags. Needless to say we got not even 1 mango from that tree last year and the other had the same thing happen and they ruined that as well. This past mango season I bagged most of the fruit and shot em with the pellet gun to reduce the numbers. We got a bunch of mangos from declaring war on those little punks. I did have a few bags they tried to chew through but I'll accept that over not getting 1 fruit before.
@@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree wow that’s wild. Sorry to hear that. I have friends and family with mango trees and plenty of customers over the years that’ve had them, and I have never seen squirrels do destroy their crops like that. My dad is a huge avocado tree in his backyard, and they occasionally get those. He hates it, which is understandable. Did you eat those squirrels you culled from your property?
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I do not eat them incase they were to be eating rat poison. I just burry them near the trees and let them get some revenge also. Some of the damage is done by rats. I even had the squirrels dig up the seedling mango trees and eat the seeds. Plus numerous other plants they dig holes in the roots. I leave some unprotected for the birds/squirrels so the population is more natural. A natural population is fine with me but no joke there was about 50 and they would run right up to me and the kids expecting handouts.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I tried to live with them but after all their destruction I couldn't bear all the effort to just feed rodents. They even ripped up my screens all over the porch.
Terrible advice. Please think of others!! Many interviews with animal control and wildlife over our massive problem due to neighbor’s daily squirrel feeding….. Unfortunately we legally can do nothing. We have trapped up to 80 per yr in our yard! Before neighbors began feeding, squirrels were cute to me. Here’s what the wildlife experts told me: when you feed, you remove natural competion for food and their natural territorialism.1. Brings in more squirrels, plus they produce more litters per season when fed. Did you know that? Hence we see babies pretty much yr round.. 2. Changes the avian population. Crows came, songbirds left, raptors moved in. 3. Damage to OUR property is horendous: -What my neighbor feeds, they eat in my yd, leaving bunches of shells;, the rest they bury in my yard, upend pots, and dig up later. -Every yr I repair blowouts in irrigation due to chewing the thick plastic -They chewed up a teakwood pation bench till it fell apart -cannot leave out any patio pillows, cushions, hammocks for even a few hours. They immediately rip up for nesting -our cedar fence tops looke like pointed teeth -slowly destroying our 40 yr old tree canopy we planted. Just removed a beautiful massive honeylocust due to their stripping the bark $13,000!), and another soon. -they remove every plum, apple EARLY in season on our 2 trees -our tree canopy has become an aerial city -this is our back yard only! After 15 yrs of this, they are moving to the front yard trees -the ‘cute’ squirrels are so bold and demanding , sometimes, as I am reading, and they’ll run across my bare legs. Now that is a shock! If you live in an urban area, this feeding of squirrels has a terrible negative impact. Maybe not for you directly, but for you neighbor. Do you know that you may have insurance coverage on solar panels but no one covers solar squirrel damage? Tge reason we are not installing solar! My good friend and ‘better’ neighbor, the squirrels move into her attic. It is not fun to listen to baby squirrels die from the exterminators ministrations. Please PEOPLE stop messing with the natural order by feeding. Please be a GOOD NEIGHBOR
I tried this. Even 3 pounds of bird food (sunflower seeds, whole nuts, grains) and a bunch of kitchen scraps (apple cores, carrot pieces, etc) every single day wasn’t enough to keep them satisfied. They tore up most of my plants. Took the bark off my star jasmine, chewed big bites into the aloe plants, ate the melon plants to the ground, killing the plants (every leaf, every flower gone), took a ton of unripe citrus off my trees, ripped off every fig before they could ripen, picked off the baby pomegranates, broke most of the branches off my blueberry bush eating every last berry, ate half the corn plants, ate every last sunflower and sunflower leaf (there are only stems left), ate my calendula flowers to the ground, left their paw prints all over my car engine, tore up the plastic dividers between the concrete panels in our backyard, and ate the bird eggs in the nest by our garage. And I have 3 bird baths, so they have plenty of water.
I tried all the things (cages around the garden beds, hot pepper spray, garlic powder, forks, etc). We even have a red tail hawk and great horned owl and coyote pack that come by regularly. Sometimes the owl is sitting 15 from the squirrels on the ground and they don’t seem to care. Nothing works.
I don’t think any amount of food would be enough to satisfy them. I would suggest that people try to keep them out of their property, instead of inviting them in to eat. You don’t want to end up with squirrels that are never satisfied.
I never had a squirrel problem till I started feeding them!
I hate squirrels with all my heart. They have always destroyed my garden and plant pots.
They got into the attic and chewed on everything.
The Havahart model 1083 EZ set trap is the best solution for grey squirrels
but you have to order them online. The big box stores don't stock them.
Thanks for this! I had to get rid of my planeter boxes around our patio that I put up with lavender to keep mosquitoes away, and they were great... except the squirrels kept diggin into them hiding their nuts. Now they tore up my gazebo, completely ruining it in a matter of one morning of destruction! I covered the tops of the fence and railings with fragrant soap and Critter Ridder (combo of peppers and such) hoping that will keep them from coming back, but I think I'll add a plate of your recommended squirrel food just over the other side of our fence in our apartments courtyard in hopes that'll keep them little rascals away from inside our patio and off our repaired gazebo!!! Wish me luck and thanks again for your advice! 😎 🐿 🔫
This is exactly what my boss said she does and she doesn't have any problems at all while everyone else she knows does have problems. Thank you for sharing.
Ty for this. Half the advise seems to be from sociopaths who recommend caging as many as possible and dropping them in a trash can full of water.
This is a much more intelligent way when you live in a neighborhood full of them.
That's Definitely One thing I've noticed too! 🐿's always watch and see what another 🐿 does then Here come the Crew!! SERIOUSLY!!!
I’m going to try this! Thanks for the idea! They keep digging in my garden and plant pots so I won’t mind leaving peanuts and squirrel feed away just to keep them out of my garden! Plus less of a expense then a damaged garden, plants and all! Thanks again! Plus it’s less inhumane
Grey squirrels will bite and ruin tomatoes no matter how much food they are given.
They bite tomatoes because they are a water source.
I place 2 Havahart 1083 EZ set traps between the bird feeder and garden.
Problem solved 464 times and still counting.
Great idea but then you're feeding the field rats and bringing them near your home, those rats will then look for shelter, your attic
My garden instructor said the same thing!! Have a separate location for the squirrels and chipmunks!!! I STILL protect my garden with netting red pepper flakes whatever I need to do to send MY MESSAGE KEEP OUT! THANK YOU FOR SHARING 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
This sounds like the best advice!! I'm gonna try this ! Thank you for your idea!! 💖❤️💖
It definitely works pretty good for me. Hope it works for you too. Thanks for the comment.
Great idea!! Those little guys ate all my planted corn. So pissed, so far you have the most logical advise I’ve found. Definitely going to try this. Thank you!
Also in regards to those traps, they could trap a mama squirrel with babies that depend on her. Great info!
Thank you so much
Thanks for the video. Would you mind sharing where you get the birds food you are feeding them? Thanks a lot.
I was told the same thing by our guy at the Home Depot garden center. The box trap didn't work for us, but I did catch a big toad. I'm going to try it, because those squirrels go in with my chickens and ducks. I've caged off the veggie beds, which is inconvenient when you want to get into them. Thanks for this video.
Additional: 30 yrs ago only 1 elderly neighbor fed the squirrels. And we ALL had problems. But our dog and cat were somewhat helpful deterents. Our neighbor saddly died. But the squirrel issue did go away. Yrs later a new squirrel-friendly-neigbor moved in and we would find massive amounts of shells in our yard. We are elderly now ourselves and without pets. I have spoken with our neighbor, kindly, showed movies of the chewing in the high tree branches, the irrigation blowouts, given them printouts from wildlife experts. One spouse listened, agreed they did not need to pour out a bucket of peanuts a day. But the other spouse was livid. Needless to say, nothing changed. We do what we can. They do what they want. Squirrels are more important than people. How about both are important? The natural order is good for wildlife/town life/people life/ neighborliness. Nature provides what a squirrel population needs. If there is scarceness, the squirrels know naturally how to move to better locales, they slow down their litter production accordingly. Understanding their cycles and needs is not a misplaced human sentimentality. It is honoring of all
So simplistic yet a ton have never thought of this LMAO I can't believe I never thought of this. Going to try it out! Ty!
As humans we tend to over complicate things lol. Sometimes solutions are incredibly simple. Hopefully it helps you. Thanks for watching.
Great the food is there for the squirrels and birds. Will you get a problem with rats coming?
My problem with feeding them is that they start digging and unrooting plants, trying to hide food in my garden.
Great humane way on how to live with our wildlife. 😊👍
Thank you. Now don't get me wrong, my family does eat meat, and I do hunt for our food, but I am not into senseless killing or injuring animals. Even if they're a nuisance in the garden. My wife loves squirrels so for her to get the enjoyment of naming them and watching them eating is another plus for me.lol. Thanks for watching the video, Have a great night.
Haha we're meat eaters too. We don't hunt but our friends give us moose, cod and birds. Newfoundlanders had to live off the land to surviveand most still do.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA
I have fed 464 grey squirrels carcasses to our local wildlife at night
and they are always gone the next morning. Win-Win
Possums and fox need to eat too.
I know this was about a year ago but this makes so much sense I am definitely going to try it and let you know how it goes
They've been annoying the hell out of me. Would hunt and eat them if it was legal in this area.(legal all across the state, just not in this location) Hot peppers have helped in the past, but I'm tired of having to grind it up and sprinkle it everywhere. Fake owls didn't work. Part of why I'm looking this up now is I just watched a big fat squirrel dig up my garlic and then sit on top of the fake owl. Feeding them also hasn't worked. Been feeding the squirrels, the foxes, the birds....maybe I should stop feeding the foxes. 😂😰
Finally someone who has addressed this issue properly on UA-cam. I do this as well and they don’t bother the bird feeders as well as the garden. You will never be rid of squirrels no matter what method you use, why not just enjoy them because they can be great entertainment!
Well thank you for checking out the video, and the nice comment.
You can’t enjoy them when they keep ripping up all your plants. You want to kill them
That doesn't work. The squirrels are very destructive. They still will dig up and eat my tomatoes and other things. Yes...they eat my tomatoes. Fox squirrels. Gray squirrels. let alone tearing up new plants.
Love this, just recently started watching. Excellent content
Thank you so much. I appreciate you checking out the videos, and the feedback. Have a great day.
My neighbors feed squirrels raw peanuts on the other side of our fence. Then they bury them in my yard. We now have peanuts growing everywhere, even in my potted plants. I leave them since they are a nitrogen fixer. The squirrels still get in my garden and dig stuff up but as long as they want to share their peanuts, I’ll leave them be. Lol. 😅
If my squirrels are willing to work like yours do, I may reconsider the options. 😂
THANK YOU. SQUIRRELS DESERVE TO EAT AS WELL , YOU ARE KIND PERSON
wow dude that was so unexpected. and i love that its not gonna hurt them in anyway. gonna try it from today. build a nice little feeding place. lets see.
I do the same with birds..
awesome video bro
Thank you
Have a great rest of the day
Yeah man the birds eat from it too, but it doesn’t really keep them out of the garden for me tho lol. Luckily they don’t really damage anything. It seems they just go in there and pick off bugs, which I’m totally cool with. How did you do on the bridge the other night?
What kind of food do you put out that prevents catbirds
from pecking all your tomatoes ?
Yes, they may not bother your garden but they may be a problem to your attic, vehicle and electric cables.
I guess anything is possible. Luckily we have not dealt with any of these issues. I’d like to add that our neighborhood has a huge population of squirrels. Always has and always will. So my feeding them hasn’t brought any into my yard that wouldn’t have already been here, but it just keeps their attention at a food pile rather than my garden and fruit trees.
Or your neighbors property.
I've thought about doing this. Thanks for posting this!
HEY MAN GREAT ADVICE ON THIS tree rat problem...i HAVE noticed when i have extra nuts i throw out for my rabbit they eat good and go!!!
shucks id hate to see a squirrel hurt in a cage also....much needed info about them box traps too...i hope folks see this VID brother...;)
Thank you very much.
Box traps sound great. Thanks.
Do your thing homie
That would be ideal if it was only a handful of them, but on a large scale that would be costly. Sad about those trapped squirrels, won't be trying that. Thank you.
This is a solution that I can live with🙏 Thanks
Thank you....thank you!!!
They are killing one of my bonsai trees, it's a maple tree and it keeps eating the new leaves. Extremely frustrating to deal with. It produces no fruit at all so it isn't that :/ they ate their way into a bag of organic fertilizer too oddly enough. So I should start feeding them? Seems like that'd be asking for trouble 🤔
Well, no offense but it sounds like you’re already having trouble. I’m not going to promise you that this solution will definitely work for you because several people on here have left me comments saying it doesn’t work for them, but I was just trying to share what works for me. That being said, many people have also told me this method works for them too. It is very common for squirrels to eat the new growth of a maple tree. This is something that I witness every year in the woods while I’m deer hunting. After all of the acorns from the fall have been consumed the new buds emerging from the maple trees are the next target. As far as a squirrel eating fertilizer, I’ve never seen that. I would imagine there is some ingredient that’s attracting them. It sounds to me like they’re hungry, and there’s nothing better for them to eat.
Thank you so much. I been waiting to see how to deal with this before planting my corn. They eat the neighbors avocado and that has kept me from planting 😟. Thanks so much 💕🙏
I live on a lake in Pinellas County. I took your advice and began feeding the squirrels on a patio that is pretty far away from our garden. It worked for a while, but then the ducks started coming to eat the food. We now have about 45 ducks swimming in our pool every day making a huge mess and eating all the squirrel food. I don't have any trees to build something for the squirrels, and they have resorted to eating all of our garden again. Any suggestion for ducks and marsh hens?
The best solution for grey squirrels is a Havahart model 1083 EZ set trap.
I have given 470 grey squirrels a free ticket to squirrel heaven.
That is how you keep them destroying other peoples gardens and also make sure that they just keep multiplying in your neighborhood.
WOW!! That makes a lot of sense. 🙃
Loved this humane idea
Thank you.
I’d try it but they probably would still diversify their pallets and keep eating my mulberries and mangoes for the sweetness. That’s as easy to eat as a plate of nuts.
I will try this. I hate squirrels but realize I won't get rid of them. Won't use the cages for the reasons you stated. Plus I would be afraid to get close enough to let them go into the wild.
I'm afraid the squirrels at my place see my garden as a delightful challenge and an opportunity to check out what I am doing. I told the squirrels to stay out of my garden and their response was, "challenge accepted!".
where do you live ? the landscape looks very tropical
Question please. What type of food are you using and what store can I buy this food? Thank you.
Thanks brother. I do wonder if it’s better for me to just keep using cayenne pepper and rock mulch because if I feed them I believe they won’t be doing the jobs that God gave them to do. You know what i mean?
They probably won’t plant as many oak and hickory trees in this wooded area as they do when they burry the seeds.
I live next to a small forest, but if I were in a residential area I would probably do this
I am thinking of doing this as they are getting in my garden. How much do you have to spend on seeds? I have seen over the years a squirrel sit at a bird feeder and eat pretty much, the whole thing. Which seeds do they seem to like?
Hello, and thanks for watching. I am sure they have a preferred food, but I don’t know what that is, maybe peanuts or corn cobs. I honestly just buy the biggest cheapest bag of bird food from the store. It’s usually between 6-10 dollars. I just try to get the biggest bang for my buck.
A Havahart model 1083 EZ set trap is the best solution to a grey squirrel problem.
I have disposed of 470 grey squirrels which became food for scavengers. Win-Win
I've heard this...the only problem is that your garden is at least 2X as big as my little 30'x40' Brooklyn garden, so I don't have an area that's away from the plants. I'm at wits' end 😢
Well technically my garden is only about 20’ x 40’+or-, but luckily I have more backyard than that to put food out. Wish I had another solution for you.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Really?? Wow, it looks much bigger. But I that's my total space, so I think you're not counting where your treehouse and play area as part of the garden?
What is best to feed them ?
I honestly just put out cheap wild bird seed. Not that anything is really “ cheap”anymore, but the cheaper options is what I purchase. Nothing fancy.
Squirrels are very territorial. Just wondering, have you taken that into consideration? All the squirrels that are around your yard could very well not be allowed to the feeding station by other squirrels. Also, in the fall they will want to bury their food, just like they do with acorns and nuts. Thus, the digging continues with the food from the feeder. I would love to know if your system is actually working. If so, you have solved a lot of peoples problems! Let’s hear from you. Thank you.
First off thank you for watching and leaving the questions, I really appreciate it. Secondly great questions, I’m going to try my best to answer them without writing a book lol.
So, this method absolutely works for me. I’ve done it for a couple of years now, and it keeps the squirrels out of my garden. That was the reason I shared the experience in my video because it actually works for me.
You’re absolutely correct about them being territorial to an extent. Like any other animal in the kingdom they have what we call a pecking order. I have definitely seen many times where a more dominant male squirrel is feeding with a subordinate squirrel nearby. As the younger squirrels encroaches on the alpha male’s territory, the dominant squirrel will chase him off, then return to the pile. Honestly, that’s why if you notice in my video I have more than one pile of feed out at a time. Although I will add, that if for whatever reason there is only one pile of food with a territory thing going on, the squirrels never end up giving up and scavenging the garden. The pile always holds their attention, and they just compete over the free tasty food.
Now to address the burying of acorns lol. A couple of people have brought up the fact that squirrels will go bury nuts and acorns, and that is accurate. However, it doesn’t seem to be a substantial problem in my garden. I would be lying to say that I have never Seen a squirrel burying an acorn in my mulch, but it’s 100% truthful to say that a squirrel has never dug up a plant, eaten my seeds before germinating, eaten a fruit or vegetable before I can harvest or negatively affected my plants at all.
I think the bigger problems appear when the acorns are all eaten up ( besides the ones that got buried) and there’s no more succulent young growth in the trees to be eaten. At this point the squirrels look for their next food source, and if you have a luscious young garden with tender plants they might just go for that. Or they might just start trying to dig up the acorns that they’ve buried, but they can’t remember where they’ve buried them so they start digging holes everywhere. OR, you can have a couple of piles of food laying around, and it will hold their attention. It’s just too easy for them.
I’m sure at some point someone is going to tell me that this method didn’t work, and my answer will be that nothing in this world is perfect, but the method 100 % works for us. So if a few people try it and it works then I’m happy.
All great thoughts for you, and thank you for taking the time to reply with good information. Everything you said sounds good, and you have helped me rule out some concerns. However, I still can’t help but wonder if my squirrels will try to bury the food source that I put out for them. You see, I have a moss lawn, it’s a beautiful velvet pad, and when they dig it up, it looks horrible, and takes a long time to repair. If I put out sunflower seeds or peanuts as the distraction food, I’m just wondering if they will try to bury them in anticipation when things get tougher this winter. And then, they will spend all winter digging around looking for them. Anyhow, your ideas are great and I’m willing to give it a try! Thank you.
@@danmccartney7758 well I guess the only way to know for sure, is to give it a shot. This is just my theory, but even if they bury a little to store away for harder times ,they shouldn’t ever need to go digging it up. If you continuously feed them, then the instinctual switch in their head to start digging around searching for hidden food never gets flipped. Meaning if you keep food for them they’ll never have to go searching. If that makes sense lol. If you do happen to try this I hope it works for you.
Makes sense to me, imma try it, thanks
I've tried feeding them and they still bother my plants
I’m sorry to hear that. This method works so well for us, sorry it didn’t help you.
I feed them, too and they still go in my plants. I tried for a few years to put Cheyenne pepper, black pepper, and chili pepper around the plant ....no success.
Dang what a bummer. A couple of people have also said they put out food, but the squirrels still bother their garden. This works so well for us, I really thought it would work for all squirrels. Hopefully I at least helped someone with this video. Sorry it didn’t help you.
How do you deal with rats & mice being attracted to the food as well? I ended up getting mice in my house an rats in my wood pile from feeding squirrels & birds. So now we don't feed them & have stopped doing wood heat, switched back to electric. Became not only would we get sick but we have a baby that could sick & die from having them around. 😟
I wondered the same thing.
Cats will help with that problem. They will help fight off those pesky rats and mice.
I agree with you
I wish, but we feed them and they just ate all my tulip heads today as well as freshly planted strawberries 😢
They have enough food. They burry it all over the garden. There are monkey nuts hidden everywhere :/
Many people trap grey squirrels because they are relentlessly raiding bird feeders.
Your solution is only working because you have no bird feeders.
And I'm also not understanding why you have grey squirrels that
will not bite and ruin tomatoes regardless of how much you feed them ?
What kind of garden doesn't have tomato plants ?
Well you’re just full of assumptions aren’t you Billy? First of all we do have two bird feeders in our yard, and yes the squirrels eat out of the bird feeders, which doesn’t bother us, but honestly my video is about keeping them out of the garden. I stated nothing about keeping them out of bird feeders, so I’m struggling to find the relevance here 🤷🏽♂️. Also I’ve grown tomatoes every year since I started gardening 14 years ago. So not sure where your assumption comes from? I can guarantee that I’ve never said that I don’t grow tomatoes in my garden, and in fact I have several videos about growing tomatoes, so yeah. I’ll also add that I’ve never once had a tomato be bothered by any animal. The only pests I deal with regarding them are bugs.
If you want to eradicate them and feed them to the buzzards, by all means have at it. I’ve personally hunted and eaten hundreds of squirrels myself, but not from an urban area. Most people don’t have the stomach to kill a squirrel and leave it out for the scavengers, so this video was for them. So you keep doing you, but I’d stop assuming so much. Cause when you assume things you just make an ASS of U & ME.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA
You must have a different kind of grey squirrel down in the
HillBilly states than we have in PA.
Up here grey squirrels are notorious for ruining tomatoes
because they are a water source and you can't change that by
"feeding them" unless you have some magical squirrel food
that no one else knows about.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA
I've disposed of 462 grey squirrels in approx. 6 years
and I have NEVER caught 2 squirrels in the same trap at the same time.
I can't even imagine what kind of trap you would use
that would make that possible.
I'll have to try this. Only problem is, they bury seeds...in my lawn, and in my garden :(
This may only be seasonal though - as fall/winter draw closer they start storing their food. I guess I'll find out.
Is that guava tree I’m seen behind you?
Why yes, yes it is lol. Right now one of the trees has over 200 guavas on it. Good eye.
genius thank you
If you feed them then they will just still dig in your garden to burry their food, we tried feeding them and they still dug out our plants and bit all my veggies, we also have a pond they drink from so I know they are not biting them to get moisture since they have acsess to water. We are at Witt’s end with these squirrels and contemplating giving up gardening and or moving to a home without so many trees like we have. :(
That's depend of your garden and squirrel population, in some cases it may work...
I WAS expecting a better idea but this is a no no, a lot of other rodents will come and eat from there.
Put out a tray of water as well so in the hot summer months they drink the water to quench their thirst
🤣😂
now i see this vid... squirrel's ate all my lettuce plants this morning
It is almost impossible to keep squirrels out of our garden. Because they are as smart as we are.
Another one I am going to haunt if feeding the squirrels doesn't work.
Fine. Fine. I’ll do it.🙂
It works for me. I know some people hate them, so they don’t like the concept of feeding them. Hopefully it works for you. 😀
I grumbled the whole way to the pet food aisle thinking about how much I’d rather just build Fort Knox to keep them out because they’re a-holes.
Then, I remembered your logical voice and just put out the bird seed. Thanks so much for the video.
@@soonchild1 keep your friends close, and your enemies closer 😉😆.
Wise words.🙂
Cool idea. As far as trapping and releasing squirrels somewhere else...that may actually be illegal in some areas. Trapping the little guys is just a bad idea.
Squirrels die in those traps! Good, one less squirrel to deal with.
Just wonderful. My neighbour does this and guess what? They come to our house. Everyone doing this is just creating problems for everyone else. This is an absolutely horrible, selfish idea and no, not everyone wins...your neighbours hate you.
Oh contrary, my neighbors don’t hate us at all. There has been no increase in squirrel population since we’ve been feeding them. They were here when we moved here, and they’ll still be here when we leave. I could either let them eat my garden and keep you happy or feed them and keep us happy. Seems like someone might have some anger issues.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Angry because our neighbour does it and the vermin bury the nuts in our yard. We cannot keep vegetables, so yes. And if your neighbours aren't telling you, that doesn't mean they don't feel it. We don't say anything either because "the neighbourhood" but he has had anonymous letters. Trust me, They hate you.
@@teedot2791 no, trust me, they don’t. We have no problem telling each other when we’re pissing each other off. Two of our neighbors feed them as well, and they don’t bother their gardens either. I don’t feed them nuts. I feed them bird seed. They don’t bury it, they just eat it. And like I stated before, the squirrels were already here when we got here. So it’s not like I somehow called them in all the sudden. Maybe you should stop being soft, and tell your neighbors how you feel. Instead of busting my bass on here. Have a great day.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA Oh, and as an added bonus, the squirrels and chipmunks eat the wires inside our cars (those wires are coated in soy, which the vermin love). Busting your ass? I'm telling you the truth. You may live in a lovely wonderful fantastyland neighbourhood, but not everyone does and feeding vermin is idiotic.
My friend feed them but they still eat his fruits!
You don't have any mango trees though!
We only have a few seedlings that I’ve started, no mature fruiting trees. I’m assuming that you’re saying this won’t work if you have a mango tree?
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA my neighbors feed the heck out of them and there was about 50 squirrels in the last 1.5 acres. 1 tree had over 100 mangoes on it last year and I didn't know about the bags. Needless to say we got not even 1 mango from that tree last year and the other had the same thing happen and they ruined that as well. This past mango season I bagged most of the fruit and shot em with the pellet gun to reduce the numbers. We got a bunch of mangos from declaring war on those little punks. I did have a few bags they tried to chew through but I'll accept that over not getting 1 fruit before.
@@Room_for_1_more_fruit_tree wow that’s wild. Sorry to hear that. I have friends and family with mango trees and plenty of customers over the years that’ve had them, and I have never seen squirrels do destroy their crops like that. My dad is a huge avocado tree in his backyard, and they occasionally get those. He hates it, which is understandable. Did you eat those squirrels you culled from your property?
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I do not eat them incase they were to be eating rat poison. I just burry them near the trees and let them get some revenge also. Some of the damage is done by rats. I even had the squirrels dig up the seedling mango trees and eat the seeds. Plus numerous other plants they dig holes in the roots. I leave some unprotected for the birds/squirrels so the population is more natural. A natural population is fine with me but no joke there was about 50 and they would run right up to me and the kids expecting handouts.
@@THECOUNTRYNINJA I tried to live with them but after all their destruction I couldn't bear all the effort to just feed rodents. They even ripped up my screens all over the porch.
Bait them and then work on your Archery aim... aim small, miss small... ;)
Country Ninja: You're never going to get rid of all the squirrels in your yard.
Me: Somebody hold my beer.
Sooo the squirrels are charging u a tax .....to protect ur garden. Ur paying for protection lol but yeh it makes sense.
Terrible advice. Please think of others!!
Many interviews with animal control and wildlife over our massive problem due to neighbor’s daily squirrel feeding….. Unfortunately we legally can do nothing. We have trapped up to 80 per yr in our yard! Before neighbors began feeding, squirrels were cute to me. Here’s what the wildlife experts told me: when you feed, you remove natural competion for food and their natural territorialism.1. Brings in more squirrels, plus they produce more litters per season when fed. Did you know that? Hence we see babies pretty much yr round.. 2. Changes the avian population. Crows came, songbirds left, raptors moved in. 3. Damage to OUR property is horendous:
-What my neighbor feeds, they eat in my yd, leaving bunches of shells;, the rest they bury in my yard, upend pots, and dig up later.
-Every yr I repair blowouts in irrigation due to chewing the thick plastic
-They chewed up a teakwood pation bench till it fell apart
-cannot leave out any patio pillows, cushions, hammocks for even a few hours. They immediately rip up for nesting
-our cedar fence tops looke like pointed teeth
-slowly destroying our 40 yr old tree canopy we planted. Just removed a beautiful massive honeylocust due to their stripping the bark $13,000!), and another soon.
-they remove every plum, apple EARLY in season on our 2 trees
-our tree canopy has become an aerial city
-this is our back yard only! After 15 yrs of this, they are moving to the front yard trees
-the ‘cute’ squirrels are so bold and demanding , sometimes, as I am reading, and they’ll run across my bare legs. Now that is a shock!
If you live in an urban area, this feeding of squirrels has a terrible negative impact. Maybe not for you directly, but for you neighbor. Do you know that you may have insurance coverage on solar panels but no one covers solar squirrel damage? Tge reason we are not installing solar!
My good friend and ‘better’ neighbor, the squirrels move into her attic. It is not fun to listen to baby squirrels die from the exterminators ministrations.
Please PEOPLE stop messing with the natural order by feeding. Please be a GOOD NEIGHBOR
Trap em and say bye bye to the pesty, costly rodents.